A rough stretch of weather on the West Coast will roll straight into this weekend.
Wicked winds that swept over parts of British Columbia finally subsided on Thursday, leaving behind ferry cancellations and power outages in their wake.
We’re already looking ahead to the next system aiming for the coast, which will bring widespread rain, mountain snows, and winds that may gust high enough to cause some additional ferry delays.
Stay up-to-date on weather alerts and watch out for rapidly changing conditions if you’re heading out Friday or Saturday, especially across the mountain passes. Check highway conditions before you leave.
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One storm exits, another storm arrives to take its place.
Friday will see the arrival of our next potent low across British Columbia—though wind will take a backseat to rain and snow this time around.
Precipitation will begin to push ashore through the second half of the day on Friday, becoming widespread by Friday evening. Freezing levels hovering around 1000 metres will bring ample snows to the mountains and highway passes. This should also allow some accumulating snow to fall for the Interior valleys.
Expect precipitation to begin into Saturday before the storm gradually winds down.
We’ll see 30-50 mm of rain in the gauges across Metro Vancouver by Saturday, with the highest totals possible around Abbotsford. Totals in Victoria should come in lower than 20 mm thanks to the rain-shadow effect.
Meanwhile, the Allison Pass and Coquihalla Pass are in for 30-50 cm of snow by the end of this event. Expect significant delays and potential road closures as a result of the ample snows headed for this region into the first half of the weekend.
While the winds aren’t the headline with this storm, southeasterly wind gusts of 40-60 km/h blowing up the Georgia Strait will shift toward the Lower Mainland through the day, potentially affecting ferry service later on Saturday.
Stay with The Weather Network for more forecast information and updates on your weather in B.C.