B.C. coast prepares for more heavy weather
British Columbia is bracing for another blast of tough winter weather.
A frontal system is expected to hit coastal areas on Friday, bringing strong winds and a mixed bag of precipitation, Environment Canada warned Thursday morning.
The front is expected to hit the north coast and central coast on Friday morning, with winds reaching 90 kilometres an hour. As the front moves south, snow will begin later in the morning over most of the south coast.
The first, 5.9 in magnitude, occurred just after midnight PT about 160 kilometres southwest of Port Alice, B.C. Natural Resources Canada said it was too far offshore to be felt and too small to generate a tsunami.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the second, with a magnitude of 4.3, happened about a half hour later in roughly the same location. Both took place about 10 kilometres below the surface. Smaller quakes were also reported around Alaska.
Snow is expected to change to rain late in the day as the warm front nears, but not before giving snowfall amounts in the range of five to 10 centimetres, the forecasters said.
Northerly winds combining with cold temperatures will give wind-chill values below –20 for the inland sections of the north coast on Thursday and most of Friday.
BC Hydro crews remained on the job on Christmas Day to restore service to thousands homes and businesses without power in the Vancouver area. The majority were in North and West Vancouver, where transmission circuit failures left several thousand customers without power. Hundreds of customers were without power on parts of southern Vancouver Island, the utility said.
Travel conditions easing
Word of the additional snowfall comes just as travel conditions appeared to be easing in the Lower Mainland on Thursday, a day after the region received a winter blast that brought snow accumulation in the region to nearly 70 centimetres.
In Vancouver, TransLink reported that all buses were on their regular routes, with the exception of a few detours in North Vancouver at higher elevations due to the snow.
As of 5 p.m. PT, detoured routes were No. 210, 239 and 246 in North Vancouver.
All West Vancouver buses were on their regular routes, including those that experienced cancellations or reroutes on Wednesday.
TransLink said it ran "ghost trains" overnight to prevent icing, and with somewhat warmer temperatures, SkyTrains were expected to run without delays throughout the day. However, TransLink warned that customers should dress warmly and be prepared for lengthy waits at bus stops and on SkyTrain platforms.
Only essential services on HandyDart
HandyDart, the service for people with handicaps too severe to travel on regular transit, reported it would likely be offering only essential service — dialysis patients and priority medical trips — with Richmond and the North Shore confirmed and others probably doing the same.
West Coast Express, the commuter rail service linking Mission, Port Haney, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Port Moody with downtown Vancouver, reported no delays.
Seabus service between North Vancouver and Vancouver was on schedule.
There were no sailing delays reported by BC Ferries, with most routes operating on an abbreviated holiday schedule.
Traffic was light at all border crossings into the United States, with a 10-minute wait reported at the Peace Arch crossing on Highway 99, and five-minute delays reported at the Pacific crossing on Highway 15 and the eastbound 8th Avenue crossing at 10:30 a.m. PT.
Across the province, DriveBC reported no road closures, with most routes reporting packed snow and slippery driving conditions.