that forecast high winds over the Strait of Georgia and North Vancouver Island on Christmas Day could affect sailings on several ferry routes.
The procession of storms is expected to bring powerful winds and heavy rain to Vancouver Island and B.C.’s South Coast over the next three days.
The latest string of storms to hit the B.C. coast was expected to begin Monday evening with strong winds over Greater Victoria, the North Island and coastal areas on the east and west, .
Gusts were forecast to reach up to 140 kilometres an hour in some areas — potentially bringing down trees and causing power outages — before easing Tuesday morning.
The storm surge could also bring flooding to the Island’s west coast before the system moves out of the region on Christmas Eve.
That’s expected to be followed by a “powerful frontal system” that will bring strong winds and heavy rain to Vancouver Island and the South Coast on Christmas morning.
A weaker low pressure system will approach Vancouver Island late on Thursday, before spreading strong winds across Vancouver Island and the south coast.
Vancouver Island and the B.C. coastline have been besieged by storms since October.
A storm on the weekend of Nov. 19 left four people dead, including two drivers whose vehicles were washed off a road near Bamfield.
Two others on the Lower Mainland also died: a Coquitlam woman whose home was struck by a mudslide, and a man who entered the Coquitlam River to try to rescue a dog.
Earlier this month, a powerful storm triggered a mudslide that killed two people in North Vancouver and cut the Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler.
The Dec. 14 storm left hundreds of thousands of B.C. Hydro customers without electricity. About 20,000 of those were on Vancouver Island.
B.C. Hydro has been warning of weather-related power outages caused by drought-weakened trees and other vegetation this fall and winter following a multi-year drought in the province.
