Overnight winds saw gusts around 77 kilometres per hour recorded in Nanaimo overnight Tuesday, Nov. 12 into Wednesday, Nov. 13. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)
fall storm

Overnight winds pack a punch across Nanaimo and Vancouver Island

Nov 13, 2024 | 11:04 AM

NANAIMO — An overnight wind and rain storm came as advertised, although damage locally from the system appears to be minimal.

Just one outage of note was recorded by BC Hydro with around 2,300 customers on Gabriola Island losing power in the late evening hours of Tuesday, Nov. 12, with service being restored by around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Other minor outages occurred on the mid-Island, however were quickly dealt with by crews.

Wind gusts locally were notable with Environment Canada’s monitoring station at the Entrance Island lighthouse, off the coast of Gabriola Island, recording a maximum gust of 77 kilometres per hour.

Discovery Island off the coast of Oak Bay, and Herbert Island off the northern tip of Vancouver Island, both recorded wind gusts over 105 kilometres per hour.

Other notable locations for wind Tuesday night were Powell River’s Grief Point (98 kilometres per hour), Tofino Airport (87 kilometres per hour and Tsawwassen BC Ferries terminal (81 kilometres per hour).

Damage to local parks in the Nanaimo area was kept to a minimum, with only a handful of reports of small trees and branches downed by the gusts.

While forecasters were more focused on wind for this particular storm, considerable rain also fell.

Civilian-run monitoring stations in Nanaimo recorded between 20 and 35 millimetres over the last 24 hours.

Environment Canada reports Tahsis Village recorded 137 millimetres of rain, Ucluelet saw 80 millimetres and Nootka Lighthouse had 74 millimetres.

Courtenay, Comox and Campbell River all recorded between 40 and 55 millimetres.

Environment Canada notes all data collected is considered preliminary and specific values may change slightly as more information becomes available.

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