Ferry cancellations, blackouts as winter storm lashes B.C. south coast

VANCOUVER—More wet and windy weather is slamming British Columbia’s south coast, forcing ferry cancellations and blackouts.

Environment Canada has issued wind warnings for all of Vancouver Island as well as Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley and Howe Sound.

The federal agency warned a powerful low pressure system will bring southeast winds of 60 to 90 kilometres per hour to the inner south coast beginning Saturday morning.

It said the wind will veer to the southwest this evening and gradually ease overnight.

More than 20,000 customers were without power on Vancouver Island at one point, with Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Duncan and North Cowichan especially hard hit.

The high winds also forced BC Ferries to cancel sailings on several routes, including between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo and between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay.

Just after 6 p.m. BC Ferries announced that all remaining sailings between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay had been cancelled for the rest of the night.

Snowfall warnings were in effect for parts of the Southern Interior and Kootenay Boundary regions, with 15 to 25 centimetres expected.

The weather was good news for North Shore mountains, with Grouse Mountain reporting 21 centimetres of fresh snow in the past 24 hours as of Saturday night.