More than 110,000 households were left without power on Monday morning as strong winds battered coastal areas of British Columbia and a large swath of the province’s central Interior.
The B.C. Hydro outage list shows about 66,000 of those customers were in the Lower Mainland, while the power went out for more than 45,000 customers across Vancouver Island. Hundreds more were experiencing outages in the Okanagan and Kootenay regions.
Environment Canada said a “potent storm system” hit the South Coast after midnight on Monday, with peak rainfall intensities expected on Monday morning.
Between 40 and 70 millimetres of rain is expected on the North Shore of Metro Vancouver, according to the forecaster, and strong winds are expected until the afternoon.
A special weather statement has also been issued for Vancouver Island, where Environment Canada says 70 to 100 millimetres of rain could fall on the mountains of western Vancouver Island.
“I’m more concerned about the winds,” Environment Canada meteorologist Johnson Zhong said, noting that gusts could reach up to 80 km/h in the Victoria area on Monday.
On the Central Coast and Haida Gwaii, wind gusts could reach speeds of 110 km/h through Monday morning, according to Environment Canada.
Wind warnings have been issued for Haida Gwaii, the Central Coast and exposed sections of northern Vancouver Island, as well as the Greater Victoria region.
“Loose objects may be tossed by the wind and cause injury or damage. High winds may result in power outages and fallen tree branches,” reads the warning.
B.C. Ferries says several sailings have been delayed due to weather conditions.
In southern B.C.’s mountain passes, the forecaster has issued special weather statements warning of blowing snow on stretches like the Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) from Hope to Merritt, and Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass.
“Strong south winds ahead of the front and upslope snow will arrive on Monday,” reads the statement.
“Snow accumulations on the highest summits like Coquihalla and Kootenay Pass may exceed 20 cm on Monday,” it adds.
Zhong said that with the snow and strong winds, blowing snow could result in low visibility for drivers on Monday afternoon.
The storm warnings come a little over two weeks after an atmospheric river brought significant rain to the South Coast, which led to the deaths of at least four people after mudslides and floods.
Zhong said rainfall totals for Monday’s storm won’t come close to what happened during the atmospheric river event, but that there could still be localized flooding or mudslides on the mountains.
“This is more of a wind event storm,” he said. “So … what could be [are] some power outages, some broken tree branches.”