You know there’s a change in the weather coming when you see a halo around the sun.

CTV viewer Charlie Galan snapped this picture early this morning in Nanaimo. Halos often appear on days when there’s a thin layer of cirrus clouds in the sky. These clouds are made up of ice crystals, so, unlike rainbows in which raindrops refract light, halos appear when ice crystals do the work.

When cirrus clouds approach, it’s usually an indication that the weather is about to change (not for the better). Cirrus clouds form high up in the atmosphere and often are associated with an approaching front. The clouds themselves can indicate frontal lifting – a sign that rain is coming. Sure enough, we have rain on the way…but not yet, at least for most of Vancouver Island.

Gorgeous morning

You know it’s a nice day on the South Island whenTwitter blows up with pretty pictures!

Victoria

Nanaimo

Waking up to mainly clear skies at this time of year often means a cool start to the day. Temperatures ranged from just below freezing to 5 degrees before sunrise:

table

The warm up is underway in Greater Victoria. The School-Based Weather Station Network shows a few south island neighbourhoods with temperatures already the teens by mid-morning.

vicweather

Temperatures today are expected to peak in the low to mid-teens on the island. Yay! I know I’m not the only person who’s pleased about this  That said, it’s kind of short lived. Again. Clouds are increasing from the northwest today ahead of the next round of rain. It looks like it’ll take until late Friday afternoon for a showers to develop in the Greater Victoria area.

futurecast

The blip on the radar clears as the weekend gets underway. Depending on where you are, Saturday may be breezy and there may still be some isolated showers in the wake of the front. Sunday is the turning point – back to calm, pleasant, springtime conditions and then, next week happens! Look at this…

models

Computer models are in agreement that next week is fairly dry, sunny and warm with temperatures above seasonal average on Vancouver Island. You’re officially allowed to do a happy dance. I’m doing mine!