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Heavy rainfall to drench B.C.’s south coast

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement ahead of unseasonably strong front
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Mostly rain forecasted for Thursday, Environment Canada says. (Pixabay photo)

August is forecast to have an unseasonably rainy start across B.C.’s south coast, beginning Wednesday night.

In a special weather bulletin issued Wednesday, Environment Canada said a strong Pacific front is poised to drench parts of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island into Thursday.

“The front will tap into subtropical moisture which will amplify the front and help to enhance the rainfall totals,” the national weather agency said.

The wet weather will begin first over the west and inland communities of Vancouver Island on Wednesday evening, before spreading to eastern regions and over the Sunshine Coast by Thursday morning where it will intensify in the afternoon.

Metro Vancouver will see scattered showers, forecasters said, ahead of the main plume of moisture. By Friday, the front is expected to move eastward but bring risks of thunderstorms and gusty winds in the morning.

Isolated thunderstorms have been hitting the central and northern interior through the week.

Rain isn’t typical along B.C.’s south coast this time of year, with some of the oldest rainfall records including 5 millimetres recorded in Nanaimo in 1956, 13 millimetres recorded the same year in Vancouver and 7 millimetres that fell in Whistler in 2001.

Environment Canada’s long-range forecast does show things clearing up on the Island in time for the long weekend, with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-20s likely.


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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