Heavy rainfall and flash flood warning issued for Metro Vancouver

A potent frontal system is expected to dump heavy rain across the Metro Vancouver throughout the day and could lead to incidents of localized flash flooding.

Environment Canada forecasts call for as much as 80 mm of rain throughout the day and into the evening, especially around the North Shore Mountains and Fraser Valley. Rainfall intensity will increase late tin the afternoon and early this evening.

Flash flooding is a possibility given the cumulative rainfall this week and the saturated ground’s inability to absorb anymore water. Low-lying areas could also see flooding where drains are clogged or overwhelmed by water volumes while streams and rivers could overflow their banks as it did on November 3 at a North Vancouver Lynn Valley neighbourhood.

More rain is expected over the next few days before a high-pressure system rolls in on Saturday morning to bring consecutive days of sunny weather. Temperatures will hover near the freezing levels throughout the weekend, with a low of -7°C at night and a chance of snowfall late in the weekend and Monday morning.

Elsewhere in the province today, within the interior, freezing temperatures are causing the precipitation to fall as heavy snow.

Feature Image: Umbrella rain via Shutterstock