Persistent rainfall is expected across much of the region beginning Friday, Sept. 26. (Dreamstime)

By Alex Rawnsley

here comes the rain

First fall storm to bring widespread, steady rainfall to Nanaimo & Oceanside

Sep 26, 2025 | 12:17 PM

NANAIMO — It won’t bring a lot of rain, but it’s a reminder from Mother Nature of the time of year.

Forecasters are tracking a pair of systems due to hit much of Vancouver Island beginning Friday, Sept. 26 and continuing through the weekend, with between 10 to 15 millimetres of rain expected for the Nanaimo and Oceanside areas.

Environment Canada meteorologist Colin Fong told NanaimoNewsNOW the first round of rain will begin affecting the region Friday.

“For this weekend, it’s basically going to be all rain as we see a pair of systems roll through. We are seeing a weather system approach Vancouver Island [Friday], and so we can expect that rain to slowly ramp up through the day. Then, we’re pretty much looking at rain [Friday night], and continuing through Saturday as well.”

While light rain is expected locally, accumulations across the weekend will be considerably higher elsewhere.

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The Comox Valley can expect upwards of 30 millimetres through Sunday, while parts of the Island’s west coast will get hit harder.

“We’re shifting into that weather pattern where we’re going to start to see more of these storms. This one is fairly intense, not quite for eastern Vancouver Island just because they tend to be sheltered a bit more with that rain shadow effect, but certainly when you look on the west side of the Island, Tofino for example, or even further up north into the central coast, they’re going to be taking the brunt of the rain.”

Strong winds, upwards of 50 kilometres per hour, are expected to accompany the systems.

Exposed coastal areas will see the strongest winds, which will come from the southeast.

Fong said the active weather pattern continues into next week with a strong chance of continued rainfall in the long term forecast.

As a result in the change in the weather, the BC River Forecast Centre issued a high streamflow advisory for all of eastern Vancouver Island, warning of the potential for river levels to “rise rapidly, but that no major flooding is expected.”

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