B.C. Hydro crews are making progress in restoring power after a windstorm hit on Monday.
The strong winds knocked out power for thousands of customers in coastal areas of British Columbia and a large part of the province’s central Interior, affecting over 290,000 customers at the peak of the outages.
Outages were expected to continue overnight “due to the extent of damage and access challenges in some areas,” according to BC Hydro.
By 10:00 p.m. PST on Monday, the company reported that about 253,000 customers, or approximately 87 per cent of those impacted, had their power restored.
For updates and estimated restoration times for individual outages, you can check here.
Truck-tipping winds
In Chilliwack, one gust of wind was so strong that it caused a semi-truck to tip over.
Videos circulating online showed the semi-trailer trucktipping over while travelling eastbound near Annis Road on Highway 1 on Monday.
According to local media reports, emergency responders arrived at the scene around 1 p.m., but there were no updates on the driver’s condition.
Peak wind gusts
The storm was a result of a very strong Pacific frontal system that moved across the B.C. coast, generating very strong winds and a short period of heavy rain to coastal areas.
The following is a summary of weather event information received by Environment & Climate Change Canada as of 4 p.m. PST on November 4:
Summary of maximum wind gust for South Coast in km/h:
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Victoria Gonzales Point: 107
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Point Atkinson Lighthouse: 106
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Trial Island Lighthouse: 102
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Victoria Harbour: 100
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Entrance Island: 91
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Saturna Island: 89
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Esquimalt Harbour: 87
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Chilliwack Airport: 85
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Pam Rocks: 85
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Tofino Airport: 83
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Vancouver Int’l Airport: 77
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Comox Airport: 76
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Alex Fraser Bridge: 76
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Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal: 74
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Boundary Bay Airport: 74
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Kelp Reefs: 72
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Discovery Island: 69
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Merry Island Lighthouse: 69
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Chrome Island Lighthouse: 65
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Langley Airport: 65
Summary of maximum wind gust for North and Central B.C. Coast in km/h:
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Herbert Island: 108
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Bella Bella Airport: 96
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Sandspit Airport: 91
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Cathedral Point: 90
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Cumshewa Island: 85
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Pine Island Lighthouse: 83
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Egg Island Lighthouse: 83
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McInnes Island Lighthouse: 78
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Scarlett Point: 78
Below are more visuals of the destructive winds shared by X users online:
Were you impacted by the windstorm? Let us know using #ShareYourWeather on X.
Thumbnail credit: @alanyu/X. Used with permission.