Heavy rain and strong winds are expected to affect Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, the Sunshine Coast, eastern Vancouver Island, Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands from Thursday night, with a chance of 30 to 70 millimeters through Friday, according to a special weather statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada. Winds could range from 40 to 60 km/h, while Victoria could see gusts of up to 80 km/h. Models show 40 to 50 millimeters of rain expected by Saturday in Comox on Vancouver Island and Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, which are still ranked at Drought Level 5, the most severe rating on the province’s drought scale. Derek Lee, Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist, said this next stretch of weather will be similar to last week which brought several days of heavy rain to BC’s central and south coasts. “Atmospheric rivers are certainly not a new phenomenon, but they transport a lot of water vapor into the Pacific Northwest,” Lee said. “They will vary in intensity, duration and impact. In other words, not every atmospheric river is comparable to that of November 2021,” he added, referring to the downpours that led to widespread flooding in the south of the province last year. An atmospheric river, or AR, is a large, narrow stream of water vapor that travels across the sky. As rivers make their way from the ocean to the land – particularly in mountainous areas like coastal B.C. – the vapors condense into precipitation. On Friday, snow levels could drop to 300 meters before returning to normal levels, CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said. This could bring some wet snow to higher areas of Metro Vancouver such as the North Shore and Mount Burnaby. In response to the coming weather, the city of Vancouver is opening a handful of shelters and a warming centre, which will remain open until Monday. Share: Additional shelter spaces and a warming center are available tonight through Monday, Nov. 7, due to an extreme weather advisory. Details ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FAE8KUnkZo @CityofVancouver Environment Canada has also issued snowfall warnings for much of interior and northern BC, with up to 30cm of snow expected in some places. Thunderstorms are expected around noon Thursday, lasting through Friday morning. As temperatures rise on Friday, the snow will likely turn to rain.
