A special weather statement was issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) early this morning, Thursday, October 17 for Saltery Bay (sḵelhp) to Powell River. Both ECCC and Weatherhood are predicting prolonged heavy rain this weekend and strong winds on Saturday for the entire qathet region and Vancouver Island.
Road hazards for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, include: Water pooling on the roads, swollen rivers and creeks, increased risk of washouts, rockfall, and landslides, and power outages possible from tree damage due to winds.
"An atmospheric river will impact B.C. and bring a prolonged period of heavy rain to the south coast. Rain is expected to begin around noon on Friday and continue through the weekend. Rainfall totals are forecast to reach 40 to 70 milimmetres in general and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains. Local amounts over West Vancouver Island and Inland Vancouver Island can reach 200 millimetres," according to the ECCC special weather statement.
Strong southeast wind gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also impact areas of Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver nearest the water on Saturday.
The rain and wind will ease by Sunday afternoon.
To report severe weather, send an email to [email protected] or tweet reports using #BCStorm.
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