Vancouver Island storm expected to bring wind gusts, snow at higher elevations

High winds brought large waves to Cordova Bay Beach in Saanich, B.C., on Sat., Dec. 5, 2015. (CTV News)

Get ready, it’s coming! An intense late-spring storm is going to hit Vancouver Island and we’re preparing for it now.

While there’s still some uncertainty when it comes to the exact track of the low-pressure system, we know it’ll bring plenty of wind.

A special weather statement has been issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada, but warnings are likely to follow once all the finer details get ironed out over the next day.

A wide area will be affected by this system. Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound, Whistler, the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley are all going to partake in this one.

Here’s what we do know: wind and high elevation snow will be two of the bigger factors with this system.

The storm is expected to arrive on the island Tuesday night. With it comes southeasterly wind gusts and heavy precipitation.

Freezing levels with the storm are expected to be in the 1100- to 1500-metre range, which means we can expect heavy snow to fall in the mountains.

On Wednesday, the wind will shift and be out of the southwest and stay strong. Timing and intensity of gusts will have to wait until the system gets close but it’s safe to assume we’ll deal with gusts in the 70 to 90 km/h range and some areas could hit triple digits.

This is a good time to get prepared and make sure anything that needs to come inside or be protected is done before Tuesday evening.

Power outages and localized flooding can be expected.

I’ll continue to monitor and follow this storm and have the latest on CTV NEWS VI at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. and on Twitter at @CTVwdean.

If you have severe weather to report you can send an email to [e-mail] or use the #BCStorm hashtag on Twitter.