Avalanche danger 'high' on Vancouver Island as rain warnings and flood watches remain active
Heavy rainfall will continue to batter regions of Vancouver Island on Tuesday, increasing the risk of small avalanches in some areas, according to Avalanche Canada.
Rainfall warnings are in effect for North Vancouver Island and West Vancouver Island, where 100 to 150 millimetres of rain is expected to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to Environment Canada, rainfall will be especially noticeable on the island's west coast moving north from Tofino, including the communities of Zeballos and Tahsis.
"This is the third of three potent atmospheric rivers to arrive on our coast in a week," said Environment Canada meteorologist, Armel Castellan, at a live update Tuesday morning.
"It will continue overnight into tomorrow evening. There will be some lulls but we do expect some high (totals), 100 millimetres in Bella Coola – 150, even, on the west coast of Vancouver Island," he said.
On Tuesday morning, crews worked to clear a landslide near Port Hardy on the north end of the island.
The landslide was located on Holberg Road and was mostly cleared by 11 a.m., with traffic flowing through the area.
The landslide on Holberg Road near Port Hardy, B.C. is shown: Nov. 30, 2021 (Ministry of Transportation)
AVALANCHE DANGER RATINGS
The heavy rainfall Tuesday, combined with fresh snowfall on Monday, has led to dangerous avalanche conditions on Vancouver Island, according to Avalanche Canada.
In alpine regions, the avalanche danger rating is considered high. At treeline levels the danger rating is considerable, and at below-treeline levels the danger rating is moderate.
"New snow followed by a deluge of rain will breathe new life into wet loose avalanche problems on Tuesday," reads an update from Avalanche Canada on Monday.
"The more new snow has accumulated before the transition to rain occurs, the greater the danger will be."
FLOOD WATCHES
Castellan says that water levels will be impacted by both rain and snow runoff on Tuesday.
"Snowmelt is also a component of this event and will add to the rain totals in creeks and rivers," he said.
Flood watches are in effect for all of Vancouver Island, meaning river levels could meet or exceed their banks.
During flood watches, "flooding of areas adjacent to affected rivers may occur," according to the B.C. River Forecast Centre.
Environment Canada estimates that rainfall should ease Thursday before a smaller system returns to the coast Friday evening.
"We will be keeping a close eye on the barrage of storms (headed to B.C.)," said Castellan.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.