Snowfall warning remains in Kootenays as B.C. Hydro restores power from windstorms
Power down Saturday for more than 1,000 in Kootenays, a few thousand on Vancouver Island
Environment Canada has maintained a snowfall warning for the East Kootenays and a wind warning for parts of the coast, as B.C.'s power utility says it has restored power to almost all customers who suffered outages during a "bomb cyclone" earlier this week.
Environment Canada says a wind warning is in effect for B.C.'s north and central coast, with outflow winds expected to reach 90 km/h in some places.
Meanwhile, a snowfall warning for the Elk Valley region in southeast B.C. has been maintained, with the forecaster saying the region will see an additional five centimetres of snow before things tapers off Saturday afternoon.
Environment Canada meteorologist Gary Lee said the low pressure system currently bringing high winds to northern Vancouver Island is then carrying moisture from there to the south, which means a lot of snow for the Kootenays and Alberta.
He said once that system passes Saturday evening, the East Kootenay can expect "some short reprieve."
Lee said the snowfall warnings currently in place may be lifted by Saturday afternoon, and there could be occasional light flurries in the area afterwards, but no significant snow accumulations.
Teagan Burton, general manager for the highway maintenance company Mainroad East Kootenay, said the area received 18 centimetres of snowfall overnight Friday, making highways particularly hazardous.
"We're experiencing a little bit of slippery conditions and on a lot of our major highways," she said. "Some areas got less snow than other areas, but for the majority we saw a pretty heavy snowfall overnight."
Burton said one of the biggest challenges being faced by Mainroad crews were motorists not giving snow plows enough room to work.
"Please, if you're out there when the lights are flashing, crews are working," she said. "They're out there trying to make the highways safe for you. So give them room to do their jobs."
Some outages remain on Vancouver Island
B.C. Hydro says over a thousand customers in the Kootenays were without power due to the snowstorm.
"We've had a couple of years of ongoing drought here in British Columbia, which has weakened trees and their root systems, making them more susceptible to snow and wind events," said Mary Anne Coules, a B.C. Hydro spokesperson.
Elsewhere in the province, the utility says crews are working around the clock to repair outages caused by the "bomb cyclone" weather system earlier in the week, which at one point affected more than 300,000 properties.
Strong winds from a storm that struck Friday evening have made those repairs difficult in some areas, B.C. Hydro says.
The utility says there are remaining pockets of outages in places such as Gabriola, Quadra and Cortes islands, as well as in communities like Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Nanoose Bay, with access issues and new wind systems hampering restoration efforts.
The second fall storm following the bomb cyclone delayed several ferries along the coast and brought gusts over 100 km/h, but Environment Canada says it wasn't as strong as its predecessor earlier in the week.
Lee said the system bringing heavy winds was travelling north, and the heavy gusts could start easing after Sunday morning.
B.C. Hydro's outage list showed more than 5,600 customers without power Saturday morning across the province, with the highest concentration in the northern part of Vancouver Island.
With files from Corey Bullock and The Canadian Press