After a windstorm left thousands of people in Metro Vancouver without power Friday, Environment Canada is calling for a second bout of powerful winds Saturday morning.
The department issued a wind warning for parts of Metro Vancouver early Friday morning, noting: "Strong winds that may cause damage are expected or occurring."
As a result of the windstorm, thousands of people were left in the dark. According to BC Hydro's outage list, a whopping 12,305 customers in the Lower Mainland and along the Sunshine Coast were without power by early Friday afternoon.
And while the winds abated in most areas over night, they are expected to come back with a vengeance.
Environment Canada early Saturday morning issued a wind warning for Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminter, Richmond and Delta, calling for strong northwesterly winds gusting up to 90 km/h near the water and up to 70 km/h further inland starting in the late morning.
In addition to the strong winds, Vancouver is expected to get another dose of snow this weekend.
Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for Metro Vancouver with between five and 15 centimetres expected to fall by Sunday afternoon.
“Another low pressure system with a cool air mass will bring another round of snow to the Lower Mainland beginning this evening,” the warning reads. “Once again, higher elevations such as West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Coquitlam will see the greatest snow accumulations of up to 15 cm by Sunday afternoon.”
Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster will see wet snow mixed with rain. The type of precipitation seen will depend on a number of factors, including proximity to the water, elevation, intensity and wind direction. As a result, these areas are likely to see accumulations of between five and 10 centimetres.
And the forecast for snow stretches throughout the next week with a chance of flurries and snow in the forecast from Monday to Friday next week.
On Monday, Environment Canada has forecast a 30 per cent chance of flurries and temperatures are predicted to dip to a chilling -11°C. By Tuesday, the chance of flurries increases to 60 per cent and by Wednesday night periods of snow are expected.
Following this, it’s forecast to snow on both Thursday and Friday throughout the day and night.
- With files from Elana Shepert and Elisia Seeber/Vancouver Is Awesome
This story has been updated since it was originally posted.
