File:Snas - To rain (1f843e71-d9f9-46ea-8bd2-c149b841cbac).jpg

Photo of rain dripping into a rain barrel at Fort Vancouver, accompanied by the word "snas" and its translation.

"Snas” is the Chinuk Wawa word for “to rain.” It is pronounced “snahs,” with a long “a” sound. This word can be used as both the verb "to rain" and the noun "rain." Rainy weather was common in Vancouver in the 1840s, and heavy spring rains could contribute to rising waters on the Columbia River. On May 21, 1845, Hudson's Bay Company clerk Thomas Lowe wrote in his journal that the river was rising at a rate of six inches per day. At its height, the river's bank was within 75 yards of the fort's southern gate, before it began to recede in June.