Metro Vancouver is expected to be battered by a wind storm Thursday, as Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issues a special weather statement for the region.
ECCC says strong southeast winds of 60 km/h gusting up to 80 km/h are expected during the evening to about midnight.
「Damage to buildings, such as to roof shingles and windows, may occur. High winds may result in power outages and fallen tree branches,」 Environment Canada said.
Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Surrey, Langley, Richmond, and Delta are all under the statement, however, winds are expected to be their highest near the water.
CityNews Meteorologist Carl Lam says for folks thinking of heading over to the Island on BC Ferries Thursday, to maybe rethink.
「If you have the ferry in mind as a plan for how to get around today, definitely check to see if there are any cancellations because of those choppy waters,」 he said.
Prepare for possible sailing cancellations
BC Ferries says some sailings north of Nanaimo have been pre-emptively cancelled as the winds are forecasted to be strongest in that area.
「We have cancelled the last round trip between Comox and Powell River. So, that will be the 7:10 p.m. sailing out of Comox and the 8:45 p.m. sailing out of Powell Rover, and we are closely monitoring the weather situation around the fleet just to see if there』s any other impacts up north between Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii,」 BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said.
Marshall says there』s a variety of factors that go into the decision to cancel sailings, including wind direction, wind speed, sea state, and wave height.
「We are seeing gale force winds predicted, and winds are predicted to be 45 knots which are already over 80 kilometers and more in the Nanaimo area, so that』s why we are having to suspend service on that one particular route and will closely monitor other ones,」 she said.
While Marshall explains that winds are not expected to be as severe between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island, the ferry service is monitoring the situation, and if winds pick up more sailings may need to be cancelled.
「We certainly don』t take the decision lightly to cancel sailings. We know that people have places to go, but if we do cancel a sailing it is in the interest of safety,」 she said.
BC Hydro prepared to respond to outages
Meanwhile, BC Hydro is urging its customers to prepare for possible outages when the winds do hit.
「We always encourage our customers to make sure that they have an emergency preparedness kit in the event that they』re without power for an extended period of time. So the best things to keep in that emergency preparedness kit can include things like bottled water, batteries, even a flashlight,」 BC Hydro senior media relations advisor Kyle Donaldson told CityNews.
While the utilites provider is expecting parts of Vancouver Island to be hardest hit, Donaldson says its team of in-house meteorologists are keeping an eye on the weather system, and have made teams available to respond 「at a moment』s notice」 in the event there are power outages.
「Areas of the Lower Mainland look like it could be a very gusty 12 to 24 hours. … If people do come across a downed line, it』s important to note that that could be considered a live wire. So, you should at least a 10 meters back and call 911 right away,」 he said.』
Along with the wind, Lam says to expect some rain in the region too.
「We』ll deal with some showers throughout the day. Temperatures will be very mild though, we get up to a high of 11 degrees and for tonight, we don』t cool down all that much only dropping down to an overnight low of eight.」
source:News1130 photo:BC Hydro
