B.C’s south coast hit by atmospheric river

British Columbia’s south coast is getting hit by an atmospheric river, but it won’t bring nearly as much rainfall as the storms that caused devastating flooding in 2021.

CityNews Vancouver Meteorologist Michael Kuss says Sunday’s storm will only bring about a third of the rain that hit the region last year.

“Last time we piled it up for three days, and that’s why we saw 300 plus millimeters in a lot of locations and the extensive flooding. This is still a lot, a lot of water for the watershed, but it does taper off as we get too late day to day. Potential still there for some showers through Monday and Tuesday, but nothing like this atmospheric river that’s coming in through Sunday,” he said.

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By the end of Sunday, Kuss says, Metro Vancouver is expected to receive 40 to 70 millimetres of rain with up to 100 millimetres on the North Shore.

Kuss says the weeks-long drought the region experienced through most of October could cause some issues.

“A lot of the vegetation, the trees, the shrubberies weakened by the drought conditions, and that creates the potential for more downed trees and limbs coming off of those trees, which of course can result in power outages,” he said.

The south coast has been fortunate a couple of rainfalls before Sunday, which Kuss says softened up the soil and helped get a better condition to absorb the moisture.

As for those with Halloween plans, Kuss says an umbrella would be a good addition to potential costumes.

“There’s still a chance for showers, but it’s nothing like [Sunday], it should be dry or little cool temperatures aren’t going to be super warm for Halloween, but it’s not going to be an absolute downpour,” he said. “We have bad years as we all well know if you’re from around the area, where days like Sunday, or what we see on Halloween night and that’s just not going to be the case [Monday].”

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued rainfall warnings for six regions in B.C. That includes Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and parts of the Sea to Sky Highway.

With files from Greg Bowman.