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Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 19 Oct, 2023 09:57 AM

Rainfall warnings across Vancouver Island and the inner south coast have lifted in most areas, but the effects of British Columbia's first atmospheric river of autumn could take a little longer to ease.

The B.C. River Forecast Centre posted flood watches across western Vancouver Island and for the Englishman River near Parksville, warning of levels seen only once every 10 years on some waterways.

The River Forecast Centre has UPGRADED to a Flood Watch for the Englishman River. A #FloodWatch means river levels are rising & will approach or exceed riverbanks. Take precautions now. Flooding in areas near these rivers may occur. More info: https://t.co/wb0CRStKlG #BCFlood pic.twitter.com/Qnh36Gh8V8
— Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC) October 18, 2023

High streamflow advisories and the risk of local flooding cover the rest of Vancouver Island, most of the inner south coast north of Vancouver and the Interior regions of the Upper Columbia, North and South Thompson.

Environment Canada says the mild, subtropical surge of moisture that created B.C.'s latest atmospheric river Tuesday and Wednesday had mostly passed, but forecasters expected showers to linger through the day.

The weather office says the storm had dumped 233 millimetres of rain at the Kennedy Lake forestry station east of Ucluelet by late Wednesday and at least 172 millimetres at the Tofino airport, while parts of Metro Vancouver received up to 100 millimetres.

The accumulations mark the heaviest downpours across the south coast in almost a year and Environment Canada records show the greatest deluge before that was during the atmospheric river in November 2021 that caused devastating flooding, washouts and landslides from Metro Vancouver to the southern Interior.

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