'Vigorous' storm brewing over Metro Vancouver could cause serious damage

Metro Vancouver can’t seem to catch a break in the weather, with a “vigorous cold front” moving across the region tonight that could cause some serious storm damage.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued a special weather statement for the storm beginning near midnight tonight and lasting until early Wednesday morning.

According to the ECCC, strong southwesterly wind gusts will develop over parts of the region, with speeds reaching up to 70 km/h.

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“These strong winds may lead to possible tree damage, local power outages and travel delays,” added ECCC in the special weather statement.

“Winds will ease early Wednesday morning as the front tracks inland.”

Strong winds during the storm left nearly 100,000 people without power in B.C. on Monday, according to an operational update from BC Hydro.

BC Hydro also said that a lack of rain contributed to the outages.

“After several years of drought, weakened vegetation across the province has made trees and branches more susceptible to wind damage. Many dead or damaged trees have fallen onto BC Hydro’s electrical equipment, causing widespread outages.”

BC Hydro

Power has been restored to the majority of the impacted customers as of the time of publishing, though several thousand are still without electricity across B.C.

And don’t put away your umbrellas just yet, because the forecast for Metro Vancouver this week is calling for plenty more rain. And snowfall may be around the corner.

Several areas in B.C. have been hit hard by the current rainfall, including Squamish, which has received 190 mm of rain; Port Mellon, which received 98 mm; and the Fraser Valley, which received nearly 40 mm of rain so far.

ECCC

ECCC meteorologist Brian Proctor told Daily Hive that Metro Vancouver temperatures will see a definite cool down through the remainder of the work week. This comes after several warm temperature records were broken across the province.

And while we may see flurries in the forecast, you won’t need to pull out the snow shovel just yet.

“Temperatures will float below seasonal next week,” he added. “Rainfall will continue, but we won’t see a sharp snowfall event.”