Santa’s sleigh isn’t the only thing flying through the skies this Christmas Day, as a parade of powerful windstorms is set to sweep through British Columbia’s South Coast and Vancouver Island, packing gusts potentially strong enough to rattle rooftops and holiday plans.
A special weather statement was issued by Environment Canada on Sunday evening, warning of adverse weather over the coming days through Boxing Day.
All three storm systems, arriving back-to-back-to-back, will impact the Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria areas.
Three storms, with the most powerful set for Christmas Day
On Monday, December 23, a low pressure centre off the coast of BC will bring strong winds starting in the afternoon, with the winds expected to intensify through the evening and impact Vancouver Island. Late in the evening, the winds will pick up through the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, impacting eastern Vancouver Island, Victoria, and areas of Metro Vancouver near the water.
Then on Wednesday, December 25 (Christmas Day), the federal meteorological agency expects the arrival of a “powerful frontal system,” bringing “very strong winds and heavy rain” from early morning until late in the evening.
This will be followed by a comparatively weaker low pressure system that will approach Vancouver Island late on Thursday, December 26, spreading strong winds across Vancouver Island and the South Coast overnight.
As usual, Environment Canada will provide further updates and weather warnings if necessary as confidence in the storm tracks and impacts grows.
This follows the powerful windstorm that hit the South Coast and Vancouver Island on December 14, which caused 320,000 BC Hydro customers to lose power. However, BC Hydro was able to restore power to 99% of impacted customers by the next day.
Heavy snowfall for local ski hills
There will be a zero possibility of a white Christmas for Metro Vancouver’s lower elevations, with the forecast currently calling for an overnight low of 5°C and a daytime high of 9°C. The freezing level will hover at around 1,000 metres over the coming days.
While the Christmas Day storm will bring heavy rainfall for lower elevations, it is expected to be a snow-dumping event for the ski runs of all three North Shore mountains.
Ski resort forecast website Snow-Forecast anticipates heavy snowfall — over 40 cm of snow for Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour over the two-day period from Christmas Day to Boxing Day, plus about another 10 cm on Friday, December 27.
About 30 cm of snow is also expected for Whistler Blackcomb on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, followed by another 14 cm on Friday, December 27.