Potential for flooding as heavy rain continues to drench southwest B.C.
CBC
Several weather alerts remain in place for southern British Columbia as relentless rain continues to soak the province's South Coast and raise river levels to the point of potential flooding.
An atmospheric river event has forced the federal weather agency to place Metro Vancouver, Howe Sound, Whistler and Sunshine Coast residents under a rainfall warning. Up to 100 millimetres of rain is forecast to fall in these regions by Wednesday afternoon.
A rainfall warning has also been issued for west Vancouver Island, where up to 150 millimetres is expected by Thursday morning. The east and inland areas of the Island are under a special weather advisory, with 50 millimetres of rain coming to these regions in the same time period, bringing with it the threat of localized flooding.
Several communities in southern B.C. are still reeling after catastrophic flooding in mid-November caused mudslides, destroyed highways and displaced thousands of people.
Meteorologist Bobby Sekhon said while this is the latest storm to hit the weather-battered province over the past six months, he wouldn't describe it as "extreme.''
"What we're dealing with here is we had a very snowy and cold stretch for the last three or four weeks and the concern, as always, is as we get heavy rain and melting temperatures, that can create a recipe for flooding,'' Sekhon said.
The River Forecast Centre has posted high streamflow advisories for rivers and creeks across all of Vancouver Island and the South Coast.
The advisory means that river levels are rising or expected to rise rapidly, but no major flooding is expected. Minor flooding in low-lying areas is possible.
CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe says rivers and stream levels should peak by tomorrow.
"By Thursday afternoon we should be on the other side of this for a calmer end to the week," she said.
Warming temperatures and melting snow is also creating ideal avalanche conditions.
Avalanche Canada has raised the risk of a slide on Vancouver Island, the South Coast and Sea-to-Sky mountains to high, meaning very dangerous avalanche conditions exist.
"Human-triggered avalanches very likely," says a post on the Avalanche Canada website, which advises avoiding all possible avalanche terrain until conditions improve.
Snow is expected at higher elevations in B.C. on Wednesday which could also create hazardous driving conditions through mountain passes further inland.
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