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First ‘active storm cycle’ of fall expected this week

Wind and rain – lots of it – is expected to arrive on the Sunshine Coast this week for “the first active storm cycle of the fall season,” says Environment Canada.
downpour
An unusually strong downpour hit the Coast in mid-August.

Wind and rain – lots of it – is expected to arrive on the Sunshine Coast this week for “the first active storm cycle of the fall season,” says Environment Canada.

A special weather statement was issued early Tuesday morning for Gibsons to Powell River due to a number “vigorous frontal systems” that are expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Sunshine Coast beginning overnight Tuesday, Sept. 22.

“The first system arrives on Vancouver Island tonight, and will spread to the mainland before Wednesday morning and continue through Thursday,” says the statement.

Total rainfall amounts are expected to range from 50 to more than 100 millimetres for the mainland coast, with the Howe Sound and North Shore regions anticipated to receive the heaviest amounts.

Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist said strong winds are also expected to blow across the Strait of Georgia with gusts of up to 90 kilometres an hour. “There’s just one storm after another for the next five days,” he said.

The statement warns that power outages and localized flooding may occur due to “the combination of heavy rain with leaves on the ground” and strong winds.

While the heaviest rains are expected mid week, blue skies won’t be on the horizon in the immediate future.More precipitation is expected Friday and Saturday.

Lundquist did say that a high pressure ridge is expected to build next week bringing sunny skies with it and warmer temperatures. He said temperatures this fall are expected to be above average.

Those temperatures might change by December, though, because it’s “very highly likely” that a La Niña weather pattern will define winter, with near or below average temperatures, said Lundquist, and more precipitation in coastal areas, though that’s harder to predict. On the Sunshine Coast, “we might often more than not get wet,” he said.

The weather statement can be read in full here: https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?bc38#235750403759607118202009210502ws1171cwvr