Weather on B.C.'s coast to remain 'unsettled' into Friday, says Environment Canada

Windy weather is expected to remain "unsettled" on B.C.'s coast Thursday and Friday as an active weather system persists, according to Environment Canada. 

On Wednesday, much of the region was under weather warnings, with high winds and large waves in the forecast.

Wind gusts of up to 120 km/h were reported on the west side of Vancouver Island, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor. 

"For any of our marine community users that are out there, a very, very active day for the west side of the island and basically for the north end of Georgia Strait right up to Haida Gwaii," he told The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn. 

A rainfall warning remains in effect for Haida Gwaii, where 50 millimetres of rain could fall Thursday into Friday, on top of what already fell on Wednesday. 

Proctor says a "significant" upper-ridge, or a blocking pattern in the atmosphere as he describes it, is pushing winds and rain up along the coast, avoiding the Interior. 

"The coast is going to remain very unsettled, windy at times, periods of rain," Proctor said. 

Around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, more than 5,000 customers — mostly in the Sunshine Coast — lost power as wind battered the region. By Thursday morning, about 2,000 remained without electricity. 

Breaking temperature records 

Unseasonably warm weather has broken temperature records in southern B.C., including century-old marks in the provincial capital.

Multiple records fell on Wednesday at weather stations throughout Greater Victoria, where a high of 12.9 C surpassed a record set in 1922.

Environment Canada says high temperature marks were also broken in West Vancouver, where the mercury hit 14 C and shattered a 1986 high by 2.5 C, and White Rock where the high of 13.5 C broke a record standing for 88 years

Records were also set in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, with 13.7 C, and as far afield as Osoyoos in the Interior, with 6.9 C.