Storms across southern B.C. over the weekend brought record rainfall and strong gusts that brought down trees, damaging homes and vehicles in different parts of the province.
A total of 17 communities breaking daily rainfall records, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, as a low-pressure system moved through the region from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon.
The highest rainfall was recorded in the Agassiz area, which saw 57.5 millimetres of rain on Saturday, beating the previous record of 36 millimetres set in 2004, according to a preliminary report from Environment Canada.
The White Rock area recorded 49.2 millimetres of rain, exceeding its old record of 29.7 millimetres set in 1977. The Vancouver area received 26.7 millimetres of rain, surpassing the previous record of 17.6 millimetres recorded in 2008.
Rainfall records were also recorded in the Pitt Meadows, Lytton and Yoho National Park areas.
Huge tree falls on Vancouver house
Amid the rain and strong gusts, a huge tree fell on a house in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood Saturday morning.
Ryland Haggis, who lives in the home with his wife and two children, said the falling tree sounded like firecrackers before it came down onto the front of the property.
“I realized as the sounds changed over about three to five seconds that it was a massive tree splintering and shearing off in front of our house, as it was followed by a huge boom and impact that shook the whole house,” Haggis said, adding that no one was injured and no windows were shattered.
Environment Canada meteorologist Ken Dosanjh told CBC News that rain combined with strong wind gusts can cause trees to fall.
“Especially during a time where the previous months have been generally dry, drought-stricken trees are relatively weaker,” Dosanjh said.
Crushed cars in Kamloops
In Kamloops, people are cleaning up after a windstorm brought down a tree Friday night that smashed three vehicles at an apartment building parking lot.
“It was an absolute nightmare,” said Ryan Watson, one of the caretakers at the property.
He said another tree fell and broke a window at the apartment building earlier this year.
‘Danger tree hazards’ for crews: fire service
The B.C. Wildfire Service said much of the southern part of the province received rain over the weekend.
But it said that was accompanied by heavy winds gusting up to 100 km/h in some areas, which “blew trees down along fire lines in the south” and forced a fire camp in Invermere, B.C., to move to another location. The service said no one was injured.
“Lower fire activity in the south is helping crew efforts with mop up, but danger tree hazards remain,” the agency said in a notice Sunday.
As of Monday morning, the service says the number of active blazes in the province has fallen to 312, continuing a downward trend.
The number of out-of-control wildfires in the province has dropped to 86, with almost half of active fires now classified as “under control.”
The Corya Creek wildfire about 170 kilometres northeast of Terrace, B.C., remains the province’s only wildfire of note, which means the blaze is either highly visible or a possible threat to public safety.
The wildfire service says more than 10,000 square kilometres of land has been burned in B.C. in this year’s fire season starting April 1.
Environment Canada is forecasting some possible precipitation across the province early in the week, but most parts of B.C. will see a return of warmer, drier weather as Labour Day weekend approaches.
Temperatures in Agassiz are forecast to reach 30 C by Friday, while Kelowna could hit 28 C.
Dosanjh said temperatures are expected to peak Friday and into the weekend. He said so far, Environment Canada is not anticipating temperatures to reach heat warning levels.
“But nevertheless, we’re seeing temperatures for the southern Interior rise back to around 30 to 32 C. So summer is definitely looking like it’ll return for a little longer,” he said.