VICTORIA – A wind warning continues for Greater Victoria Wednesday morning, with Environment Canada predicting gusts will intensify in the afternoon.
The weather service says the worst of the storm is likely to blow through the region between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., with potentially damaging winds gusting to up to 90 km/h in Greater Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands.
More than 2,100 residents on Mayne Island and Saturna Island were without power as of 7:24 a.m. Wednesday, according to BC Hydro.
The hydro service also reported early morning outages affecting 276 residents near Port Renfrew and roughly 100 customers west of Jordan River, due to downed trees.
At 10:41 a.m., BC Hydro reported that another 2080 customers were without power between Qualicum Beach and Qualicum Bay.
The winds aren’t expected to let up until Wednesday night.
Special weather statements are also in place for Metro Vancouver, east to the central Rockies and north to the Peace region as a blast of arctic air plunges Interior temperatures as low as -25 C.
The inner south coast and island region are milder but the frigid air and winds have created conditions that feel close to -10 C.
BC Hydro reports more than 19,000 customers were without electricity overnight across Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and southern Vancouver Island, although the utility estimated power would be restored to most areas through the day.
Outages prompted the North Vancouver School District to delay openings at 12 public schools until 11 a.m.
The storm also dumped as much as 15 centimetres of snow in the Chilcotin region.
The weather office says the wind and snow will ease in all areas, although it warns the icy arctic chill will hover and deepen over the province for the rest of the week.
Residents are advised to consult the Environment Canada website for the latest updates and to report severe weather by emailing BCstorm@canada.ca or tweeting with the hashtag #BCStorm.
