Justine Shaw’s car covered with snow in Brentwood Bay Tuesday morning. (Justine Shaw/Submitted).
A winter storm that slammed Vancouver Island Monday afternoon continues into Tuesday, with dangerous conditions on the roads.
A second low pressure system is spreading snow across B.C.’s south coast, with a further five to 10 centimetres expected Tuesday before tapering off this afternoon and evening.
West Vancouver Island, inland Vancouver Island, the southern Gulf Islands, Greater Victoria, the Malahat highway from Goldstream to Mill Bay, and east Vancouver Island, from Courtenay to Campbell River, Nanoose Bay to Fanny Bay and Duncan to Nanaimo are still under a snowfall warning.
Drive BC said compact snow and winter driving conditions have led to travel advisories for:
-Highway 1 betwen Avalon Road and Highway 1A; Mt Sicker Rd for 73.3 km (Victoria to two km south of Chemainus)
-Highway 14 between Parkinson Road and Humpback Road for 81.7 km (Metchosin to three km east of Port Renfrew)
-Highway 17 between Highway 1 and the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal for 32.4 km (Victoria to North Saanich)
-Highway 18 at North Shore Road East (Lake Cowichan)
Police in different areas are reminding residents that there is compact snow on main routes and side streets have not been plowed. People are asked to stay off the roads unless their vehicles are equipped for winter driving.
Main roads are compact snow and most side streets are not plowed. Do not drive today unless you have a vehicle that is equipped for winter driving #yyjtraffic
— VicPD Traffic (@vicpdtraffic) February 12, 2019
BC Transit said all bus routes may be late in Greater Victoria due to road conditions. There are some cancellations and alterations to certain routes. Service on Salt Spring Island is operating on main roads only. Service in the Cowichan Valley is running but will likely be delayed.
7 a.m. Update: Due to weather and road conditions all bus routes may be late in Greater Victoria. A list of cancellations and detours is available below. All other routes are on regular routing. If you have questions about a specific route, please call 2503826161. #YYJTraffic pic.twitter.com/VNJER0WsDX
— BC Transit (@BCTransit) February 12, 2019
Service on #SaltSpring Island is operating on main roads only.
— BC Transit (@BCTransit) February 12, 2019
Service in the Cowichan Valley is running today, but will likely be delayed. If you have questions please call 250-746-9899. @mycvrd
— BC Transit (@BCTransit) February 12, 2019
All Regional District of Nanaimo Transit routes are running with some changes.
Service Update – 6:15 AM. Please stay tuned throughout the day for any service changes. ❄️? pic.twitter.com/0OOHAfpUpU
— RDN_Transit (@RDN_Transit) February 12, 2019
The snow has also causes cancellations at the Victoria International Airport and others. Anyone travelling are reminded to check their flight status with their airline. The Victoria aiport’s terminal building has lost main power and is on a back-up generator. The main runway is closed while the operations team clears the snow.
WEATHER UPDATE: Our main runway 09/27 is temporarily closed to allow our Operations team to clear snow. We will provide updates as soon as they become available. Thank you.
— Victoria Int Airport (@Fly_YYJ) February 12, 2019
WEATHER UPDATE: Airport Terminal Building has just lost main power and operating on back-up generator. We are investigating cause. Thank you.
— Victoria Int Airport (@Fly_YYJ) February 12, 2019
Helijet said all flights are on indefinite hold because of the weather.
Due to current conditions at all locations, our flights are on an indefinite weather hold. We'll continue to update as new information comes our way, or you can call us at 1.800.665.4354.
— Helijet Intl Inc (@Helijet) February 12, 2019
All Harbour Air flights are affected by the winter weather conditions.
#HAflightstatus [7:56 am Feb 12] Unfortunately, all flights are affected by winter weather conditions this morning. For flight status details check https://t.co/7q3UB0iJb7 or call us at 1.800.665.0212 for assistance.
— Harbour Air Seaplanes (@HarbourAirLtd) February 12, 2019
BC Ferries only had one service notice due to adverse weather Tuesday morning. The Queen of Cumberland on the Swartz Bay and southern Gulf Islands route is operating 47 minutes behind schedule because of a staffing issue.
All 12 locations of the Greater Victoria Public Library are closed this morning. The Central Branch is expected to open at 1 p.m.
And Hartland landfill outside of Victoria is limiting services to commercial account customers with landfill access via automate scale (RF tag) due to poor road conditions. It is closed to the general public.
As for power outages, BC Hydro said there are 5,775 customers without power in the south island region, with 1,860 in Saanich, west of Waters Edge Road, east of Marsett Place, south of Franck Road and north of Kenneth Stret. The cause of that outage and many others are under investigation.
There are 276 customers without power in the north region.
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