The Canadian company BC Ferries canceled multiple sailings on major routes for Monday, October 25, as a 2nd powerful “bomb cyclone” weather system approached the south coast.
Environment Canada has expanded a wind warning that is already in place for parts of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast in order to include Metro Vancouver.
Residents of the southwestern areas of the city, including Delta and Richmond, were warned of southeasterly winds of 70 km/h, and gusting up to 90 km/h close to the water, forecasted to arrive late overnight and through Monday. The west coast of Vancouver Island is expected to face the worst, with winds of 80 km/h, and gusting up to 100 km/h.
With the strongest winds forecast expected to hit the inner coast on Monday, BC Ferries said it is canceling at least 20 morning/early afternoon crossings on the routes: Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay (Victoria), Little River (Comox)-Westview (Powell River), Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay (Nanaimo), Tsawwassen-Duke Point (Nanaimo).
Travelers should check the service notice on the company's website for up-to-date info.
By 3:30 pm on Sunday, BC Hydro was reporting ~20,000 customers without power on the south coast.
A “bomb cyclone” is a weather phenomenon that involves a low-pressure system intensifying by rapidly dropping 24+ millibars in pressure in under 24 hours. A similar system formed off British Columbia’s coast on Thursday but remained off-shore for the most part.