Over the weekend, storms in southern British Columbia brought record rainfall and strong gusts that downed trees and damaged homes and vehicles in several parts of the province.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, daily rainfall records were broken in a total of 17 communities as a low-pressure system moved through the region from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon.
The highest rainfall was recorded in the Agassiz region, where 57.5 millimetres of rain fell on Saturday, beating the previous record of 36 millimetres set in 2004, according to a Preliminary report by Environment Canada.
The White Rock area received 49.2 millimetres of rain, beating the previous record of 29.7 millimetres set in 1977. The Vancouver area received 26.7 millimetres of rain, beating the previous record of 17.6 millimetres set in 2008.
Record rainfall was also recorded in Pitt Meadows, Lytton and Yoho National Parks.
Huge tree falls on house in Vancouver
During heavy rain and strong gusts, a huge tree fell on a house in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant district on Saturday morning.
Ryland Haggis, who lives in the house with his wife and two children, said the falling tree sounded like fireworks before it hit the front of the property.
“When the sounds changed within about three to five seconds, I realized it was a huge tree splintering and breaking off in front of our house. This was followed by a huge bang and impact that shook the whole house,” Haggis said, adding that no one was injured and no windows were broken.
Environment Canada meteorologist Ken Dosanjh told CBC News that rain combined with strong wind gusts could cause trees to fall.
“Especially at a time when the previous months were generally dry, drought-affected trees are comparatively weaker,” said Dosanjh.
Crushed cars in Kamloops
In Kamloops, people are busy cleaning up after a storm toppled a tree and smashed three vehicles in the parking lot of an apartment building on Friday evening.
“It was an absolute nightmare,” said Ryan Watson, one of the property’s caretakers.
He said another tree fell earlier this year and broke a window in the house.
“Danger from dangerous trees” for emergency services: Fire brigade
The BC Wildfire Service said much of the southern part of the province experienced rain over the weekend.
However, it said this was accompanied by strong wind gusts of up to 100 km/h in some areas, which “knocked down trees along firebreaks to the south” and forced a fire camp in Invermere, BC, to relocate. The service said no one was injured.
“The lower fire activity in the south makes it easier for emergency services to carry out clean-up work, but the danger from dangerous trees remains,” the authority said in a statement on Sunday.
Since Monday morning, the number of active fires in the province has fallen to 312, according to the service, continuing the downward trend.
The number of out-of-control wildfires in the province has dropped to 86 and almost half of the active fires are now considered “under control.”
The Corya Creek wildfire, about 170 kilometres northeast of Terrace, BC, remains the only significant wildfire in the province, meaning the fire is either highly visible or poses a potential threat to public safety.
According to the Wildfire Service, more than 10,000 square kilometers of land have burned in British Columbia during this year’s fire season, which began on April 1.
Environment Canada is forecasting possible rainfall across the province early this week, but as Labor Day weekend approaches, the weather will return to warmer and drier conditions across most parts of British Columbia.
Temperatures in Agassiz are expected to reach 30°C by Friday, while in Kelowna they could reach up to 28°C.
Dosanjh said temperatures are expected to peak Friday and over the weekend. He said Environment Canada does not yet expect temperatures to reach heat warning levels.
“But still, we are seeing a rise in temperature to around 30 to 32 degrees Celsius in the southern interior. So it definitely looks like summer is coming back for a while,” he said.
