VANCOUVER - Strong winds from an unseasonable storm have knocked out power to thousands on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and Lower Mainland.
There are many individuals working behind the scenes to restore your power, especially during major #BCStorm or emergency. Here's how we get the lights back on: https://t.co/FDEzcjirLP pic.twitter.com/658ByZYZ28
— BC Hydro (@bchydro) May 18, 2022
Environment Canada posted wind warnings on Wednesday for much of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the southern Gulf Islands.
Crews have been assigned to an outage affecting 800 customers on #SaltSpring. They'll share updates and info here: https://t.co/Uogn3ypjGS pic.twitter.com/91VDQtFoSX
— BC Hydro (@bchydro) May 18, 2022
The forecast called for very strong southwesterly winds of 70 kilometres per hour, gusting to 90 km/h, but easing by afternoon.
Special weather statements have also been posted for more than a dozen areas in southern B.C., including the Fraser Canyon, Nicola, Similkameen, Shuswap and East and West Columbia, where up to five centimetres of snow is forecast.
The weather office says the snow was expected to change to rain later in the day, but cautioned that driving conditions could be hazardous.
The Fraser Valley, much of Metro Vancouver, the Howe Sound, inland on Vancouver Island and Whistler areas were warned to expect from 40 to 60 millimetres of rain.