2 atmospheric rivers to hit Victoria this week

After a late summer and fall with more than 100 days without any significant rain, we're making up for lost time and moisture this week on Vancouver Island.

From July to Oct. 21, the total amount of rain for Greater Victoria was 2.1 millimetres. For the Pacific Northwest, which has a much wetter climate on average annually, this can be quite concerning

The drought affected a lot of our environment and wildlife negatively. We finally saw a pattern switch last week and with it more typical conditions, a big part of which comes from rain in the form of two atmospheric rivers (AR) this week.

ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS

If we think back to last year, an AR can make the hairs on our neck stand up because of the damage that we saw.

This year things will be much more favourable thanks to a better track these storms are on.

In 2021, we saw a straighter west to east flow, which meant the river stayed on top of us for longer and dumped much more moisture.

This time around we get a north to south track and while we'll still see some heavy amount of rain overall, it'll be spread over a longer period of time and thus lessen the negative impact.

(CTV News)

AR number one arrives Thursday. It will start on the northern tip of the island and continue to move south through the day.

For Greater Victoria, residents can expect the activity to pick up in the later hours of the morning with rain intensity increasing in the afternoon. We're looking at a range of 10 to 15 millimetres through the day.

As things taper down Friday morning, we can enjoy a break before AR two. The second atmospheric river will start to move into the island region later Saturday.

The timing of this second AR is a little less exact but CTV's Warren Dean is expecting rain to pick up late Saturday night for the southern island areas and roll through Sunday.

We can expect a bit more rain with this second storm as Greater Victoria will be in the 15 to 20 millimetre range. Totals around the island will be anywhere from 50 to 150 millimetres by the end of the weekend.

(CTV News)

Let's not forget with these systems that wind will be a factor, which causes its own set of potential dangers.

Trees haven't had it easy over the last couple of summers and may not be as firmly sitting in the ground as they once were. With strong gusts over the course of these two storms, trees could easily topple in some areas.

(CTV News)

As per usual, downed branches could also be a risk, as well as blocked drains in urban areas due to leaves and other object blocking them. Power outages may also occur.

There is some good news on the forecast, however. Halloween is looking decent for the kids as showers should be contained to the earlier morning hours making for a nice afternoon and evening.