Weekend storm expected to bring overnight winds and more rain
Technically, it’s still summer, but Friday felt like winter. The rain fell hard on Southern Vancouver Island, where total precipitation was expected to be in the 35-millimetre range through the evening.
Langford resident Imran Daj couldn’t be happier about it.
“I’m more than happy to see the rains come,” said Daj.
After an extremely dry two months, those rains caused chaos on the roads during the morning commute on the West Shore.
“We had multiple collisions that we had to attend to,” said Const. Alex Berube of West Shore RCMP.
The first was a BC Transit bus that rolled over while swerving to avoid another vehicle on the Trans Canada Highway near Thetis Lake.
“Fortunately, there were no passengers inside the bus,” said Berube. “The driver of the bus was transported to hospital by ambulance to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.”
Next were two separate accidents that happened in and around the intersection of Whale Road and Goldstream Avenue in Colwood.
Following those, a female pedestrian was hit in the intersection of Langford Parkway and Phipps Road in Langford. She was not seriously hurt.
“Motorists are urged to slow down in wet conditions (and) turn on their lights to be more visible,” said Berube.
This weekend’s storm is expected to hit the east side of Vancouver Island, north of Nanaimo, the hardest.
In Courtenay, water pooled and driving conditions were challenging. People there can expect 50 to 80 millimeters of rain by the end of Friday.
“No doubt, we’re going to see some outages up and down the island,” said Ted Olynyk, community relations manager with BC Hydro.
As of Friday afternoon, BC Hydro saw roughly 5,000 customers without power and was expecting to see more outages over night. Winds are expected to pick up to gusts of 70-to-80 kilometers per hour throughout the evening.
“I’m sure with what trees have experienced this summer – you know, the extreme heat, the long prolonged drought – it’s weakened them,” said Olynyk. “So we’re going to see branches come down. We’re going to see trees come down.”
“Really, right now, we’re just welcoming this rain because our numbers are so low, we’re so far behind,” said Warren Dean, CTV Vancouver Island weather specialist.
From June until Friday, the weather monitoring station at the Victoria International Airport has seen only 48.6 millimeters of rain. The last time the station recorded more than 10 millimetres of rain in a single day was in February.
“It’s one of those situations where it’s nice to get, it’s happening in a very short amount of time and it’s pretty intense,” said Dean. “We just have to keep looking out for a lot of factors that could be dangerous.”
The rains and winds are expected to taper off as we get through the weekend and by late next week, we should be back to summer-like conditions once again.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Asking rent prices up 9.3% across Canada, Ontario sees only decline: report
A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January.
What is basic income, and how would it impact me?
Parliamentarians are considering a pair of bills aiming to lift people out of poverty through a basic income program, but some fear these types of systems could result in more taxes for Canadians who are already financially struggling.
'I may have some nightmares:' Man survives being bitten by 2 sharks in Bahamas
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Mexico's president accuses press and volunteer searchers for missing people of 'necrophilia'
The administration of Mexico's president has accused the press and volunteer searchers who look for the bodies of missing people of 'necrophilia,' comments that drew criticism this week.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Out-of-control wildfire burning near Fort McMurray
As of 9 a.m. on Friday, the wildfire burning 28 kilometres southwest of the northeastern Alberta city was 25 hectares in size.
WATCH Expecting an interest rate cut in June? Don't bet on it after new jobs data
Canada's labour market rebounded in April, adding more than 90,000 jobs, a staggering number of new positions after four consecutive months of little change.
Prince William says wife Kate is 'doing well'
Prince William said on Friday his wife Kate was 'doing well' in a rare public comment about the Princess of Wales as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy for cancer.