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Metro Vancouver expected to be battered by 70-80 km/h winds this weekend

Very windy conditions are forecast to begin Sunday for Vancouver Island and neighbouring regions along the Strait of Georgia
Wind storm stock
Environment Canada predicts winds of over 100 km/h will approach Vancouver Island and hit neighbouring regions along the Strait of Georgia starting Sunday

Metro Vancouver is in for some intense winds this weekend thanks to a rapidly deepening low pressure system from the Pacific Ocean.

On Saturday morning (Oct. 23) Environment Canada issued a special weather statement warning that strong winds will hit Vancouver Island on Sunday. Later on Sunday winds are forecasted to strengthen over the south coast and move toward Metro Vancouver. The 80 km/h winds are expected to hit Metro Vancouver on Monday morning and taper off later in the day. The winds are expected to reach the City of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Delta, North and South Vancouver as well as the North Shore. 

“Western sections of Metro Vancouver and southern sections of Howe Sound will have their strongest winds Monday morning with gusts to 80 km/h before easing Monday afternoon,” the statement reads.

As of now, there is good confidence for the strongest winds to be over West Vancouver Island and that the low pressure system will track across northern Vancouver Island on Monday Environment Canada’s statement reads.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Doug Lundquist told Vancouver Is Awesome earlier this week that he's more concerned about the long stretch of wet weather in the coming week. The Vancouver weather forecast calls for rain every day and there's a chance that the city could have more rainfall this month than in an average November. Typically, November is the city's wettest month. 

"It's just the pattern of that many rainy days with having a significant amount every day," Lundquist noted. "That is starting to concern me. I wonder about the creeks really getting high."

And while it might not feel particularly warm, Lundquist says the overnight lows this week have been a couple of degrees warmer than usual due to the precipitation. "It's a really mild pattern."

The federal forecaster recommends monitoring alerts and forecasts as well as reporting extreme weather conditions to BCstorm@canada.ca or tweet reports using #BCStorm.

With files from Elena Shepert