Strong winds topple trees, knock out power to thousands in Lower Mainland
Posted November 27, 2019 7:02 am.
Last Updated November 27, 2019 12:02 pm.
LOWER MAINLAND (NEWS 1130) – Strong winds wreaked havoc on parts of the Lower Mainland on Wednesday, knocking out power, bringing down trees and power lines, and impacting schools and centres in some areas.
More than 17,000 BC Hydro customers are still without power, with more winds expected through the day.
“That wicked outflow wind we’ve been tracking the past couple of days, it’s come spilling down over the North Shore mountains in the middle of the night,” NEWS 1130 Meteorologist Russ Lacate says. “Much of Metro Vancouver will experience 30 to 50 k winds.”
https://twitter.com/IsabelleRaghem/status/1199743261851566080
https://twitter.com/IsabelleRaghem/status/1199716450593697793
However, he says further inland, for areas like Surrey, Langley, and throughout the Fraser Valley, northeasterly winds could see maximum speeds topping 70 kilometres per hour at times on Wednesday during the day and into the night.
#OneMinuteWeather: Damaging #wind spilled over the #Vancouver #NorthShore last night. NE Outflow 50-70 km/h increasing in the #FraserValley now, then targeting #Victoria shortly. pic.twitter.com/CyGzFESQxN
— Russ Lacate (@RLacate) November 27, 2019
Meantime, a Special Weather Statement is up for the rest of the week as temperatures are expected to drop.
“We’ve got the combination of falling temperatures and very dry air, which is making the trees somewhat brittle,” Russ explains. “You couple that with this surge of northeast outflow wind from the B.C. interior, and we’ll probably see more trees and limbs down at times.”
Delayed starts for North Shore schools
Due to power outages, a number of schools on the North Shore aren’t expected to start before 11:00 a.m.
The affected North Vancouver schools include:
- Braemar Elementary
- Canyon Heights Elementary
- Carisbrooke Elementary
- Carson Graham Secondary
- Cleveland Elementary
- Dorothy Lynas Elementary
- Handsworth Secondary
- Highlands Elementary
- Larson Elementary
- Montroyal Elementary
- Mountainside Secondary
- Westview Elementary
Some community centres and childcare programs have been cancelled.
A map shows the outages on the North Shore on Nov. 27. (Source BC Hydro)
On its website, BC Hydro says “Crews are currently working to restore power to the local substation which should restore the majority of the affected customers in that area. We will continue to provide updates, and provide individual restoration times as they are available.”
Don’t forget to listen live to NEWS 1130 for Meteorologist Russ Lacate’s reports every 10 minutes after Traffic on the ones. Follow him on Twitter for the latest, too.
