Power outages linger in B.C., next heavy rain arrives this weekend
Strong winds knocked out power to thousands across B.C. as the first of two atmospheric rivers washed over the province on Thursday.
High winds across British Columbia knocked out power to more than 40,000 customers during the day on Thursday as trees and power lines failed against the stress of the blustery conditions.
Thursday’s round of strong winds were associated with the first of two atmospheric rivers that will bring heavy rain to the province through early next week.
Wind isn’t the only concern with the ongoing unsettled weather. This flip-flop from persistently dry to positively drenched will bring more precipitation than we saw with last week’s systems and some areas may need to watch out for localized flooding.
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Thursday’s gusty winds peaked around 60-80 km/h in some areas, which was more than enough to knock down trees and power lines. The sporadic damage cut power to more than 40,000 customers at the height of the event on Thursday, with electricity restored to a majority of those customers heading into the evening hours.
Gusty winds will continue into Friday for many areas, but the strongest gusts are now behind us.
The winds were associated with the first of several systems that’ll sweep across B.C. through early next week. These dual atmospheric rivers won’t stick around for very long, but their high moisture content will produce a decent thump of rain as they move through the region.
We’ll see the second wave arrive across the Central Coast by late weekend, sliding south into the South Coast by Sunday.
Based on the University of San Diego's Atmospheric River scale, each of these events targeting B.C. in the coming days look to be either a high-end AR1 or low-end AR2 event.
Precipitation totals will vary based on terrain. We could see an additional 20-40 mm of rain across much of the South Coast heading into our Friday, with higher totals possible in some spots.
While these waves of moisture look to bring beneficial rains to the drought-stricken regions, too much moisture in a short period of time could bring the threat for localized flooding. Dry soils struggle to absorb moisture. Ongoing drought conditions combined with heavy rainfall could lead to more water running off than absorbing into the ground.
Droughts don’t clear up immediately either, and it often takes several systems to tip the balance towards a more traditionally wet pattern.
Be sure to check back for the latest on conditions across B.C.