Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for Greater Victoria, saying 50 millimetres of rain could fall on the region starting Wednesday night and into Thursday.
A highway alert is also in place for the Malahat HIghway from Goldstream to Mill Bay, which could see 50 mm of rain.
Environment Canada says the Port Renfrew area is looking at a whopping 80 to 100 mm of precipitation between tonight and tomorrow night.
“Those are very high rain rates,” says Environment & Climate Change Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan. “We’re talking about upwards of 5 mm a hour, maybe even close to 10 during the peak of storm, so that is obviously a concern, especially with the leaves and the conditions leading up to this event.”
Environment Canada says the moisture-packed storm system is another ‘atmospheric river‘ — which is like a fire hose being pointed at us.
It’s one of several we’ve already had this storm season and forecasters say so much rain in such a short period of time could lead to flooding, flash floods, and water pooling on roads.
“It’s one of those times we want to consider that Mother Nature is definitely here to show us what she can do and we need to be prepared for it,” Castellan says. “We’ve had very strong winds so there are leaves absolutely everywhere and you also are now going to add moisture onto all those leaves, so adopting a storm drain (and clearing it) couldn’t be more pertinent today.”
The rain is expected to ease Thursday evening as the weather system moves into the B.C. Interior.
The rain warning follows a wind storm that knocked out power to thousands and caused extensive cancellations for BC Ferries.
Forecasters say conditions aren’t usually this stormy until November.
But with La Niña, Environment Canada says we can expect more storms like this over the next few months.
CHEK News
Tess van Straaten
