Wind warnings issued as latest storm approaches Lower Mainland
Posted December 4, 2009 1:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After a one day respite from the rain and wind, stormy weather is set to return to South Coast B.C. today. Environment Canada has issued a wind warning for Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Sunshine Coast and most of Vancouver Island, as an intense Pacific frontal system prepares to move through the area. The storm system was preceded by a brief period of hail in Vancouver and the North Shore.
News1130 Meteorologist Russ Lacate says the storm system stalled offshore overnight, but it will still make a direct hit in the Lower Mainland this afternoon. The worst weather is expected to occur late in the day and lasting through midnight. Southeast winds of 50 km/h near sunset will rise to 70 km/h this evening, with higher gusts to 80 km/h targeting the Fraser Valley and all areas near the border, from Tsawwassen to White Rock, Hazelmere, Langley, Aldergrove and Abbotsford.
Lacate says it’s worth noting that while it will be wet, this latest storm system is not expected to be a severe rain event. However, colder air over the peaks will lead to huge snowfalls in the mountains over the next 24 hours, with 25 cms for the slopes of Whistler and Blackcomb, the North Shore peaks, and for the Coquihalla Highway and neighbouring mountain passes east of Hope.
Lacate’s forecast calls for the storm system to fall apart overnight, leaving us with a ‘regular’ rainy and windy pattern tomorrow.
The hail between 9 and 9:30 a.m. in Vancouver took a lot of drivers, and pedestrians by surprise. It left a thin layer of ice on some streets and sidewalks, which created a brief period of tricky driving and walking conditions.
