Plenty of rain and wind are poised to hit the mid-Island region, which will likely send driftwood bashing into shorelines such as Pipers Lagoon Park. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW staff

wind and rain

Atmospheric river storm set to drench Vancouver Island

Oct 17, 2024 | 2:06 PM

NANAIMO — While it’s not time to batten down the hatches quite yet, the first atmospheric river storm of the fall season is about to make landfall.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement on Wednesday, Oct. 16, calling for the rain-heavy storm system to settle over the mid-Island region by Friday, Oct. 18.

Meteorologist Ken Dosamjh said the rain should start Friday morning and stick around for most of the weekend.

“Expect precipitation to begin Friday morning around 8 in the morning, and then gradually increase throughout the day with precipitation really continuing all the way until Sunday, but most of the action will generally reside around Friday night to Saturday.”

The storm is expected to peak on in the early afternoon on Saturday, and gradually taper off from there before moving out of the region by early Monday morning.

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The forecast is calling for between 40 and 70 millimetres of rain to fall across much of the Island, with 100 millimetres or more expected in higher terrains, and western Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres over the weekend.

Strong wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour are also expected to impact areas near the water, which has the potential to result in power outages.

Dosamjh said additional rain warnings may apply for western and southern Vancouver Island, while forecasters are keeping an eye on wind speeds.

“We are flirting with the rainfall warning criteria. But in terms of wind, we will see generally persistent southeast flow, which will kind of just carry along the Strait of Georgia, so we can expect areas along the mainland coast as well as Campbell River could see gusts in the order of 70-75 kilometres per hour.”

The storm also coincides with the B.C. provincial election on Saturday, Oct. 19, possibly making it challenging for those who haven’t already cast their ballot during advance polling, which closed on Thursday.

— with files from Jon De Roo/97.3 The Eagle.

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