Hot weather this weekend comes with a warning from North Shore Rescue

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – After weeks of rain, heavy at times, the South Coast is finally getting a break that will make way for some nice weather.

NEWS 1130 Meteorologist Russ Lacate says if you’re planning on heading over to any of the local islands, it’s going to be really nice — especially for folks living on Vancouver Island.

“The cloudy skies we’ve been experiencing on the Lower Mainland will linger on the island for much of today, tonight and tomorrow morning. It might be a foggier, misty start for the east coast of the island for tomorrow morning, maybe even around Victoria and certainly in the Parksville area and Nanaimo. The West Coast of the island does clear quickly and I think by Saturday afternoon right through to Monday — it’s that beautiful Mediterranean climate. It might be 21 or 22 degrees and sunny straight the way through to the holiday Monday.”

The mercury will be soaring just as much here in Metro Vancouver. “Clouds hang around tonight with a slight chance of showers in the mountains only then it clears Saturday afternoon and it is going to heat up. Sunday and Monday it might be more than 25 degrees in the sun.”
The nice weather is likely welcomed by many, but it comes with a warning from both Avalanche Canada which says the risk for slides on the South Coast is variable heading into the weekend.

That goes hand-in-hand with what is expected to be a very busy season for North Shore Rescue. We often report on skiers and snowboarders needing help in the winter months, but Team Leader Mike Danks say now is where the hustle really begins. “People seem to think it’s the winter that’s a lot busier with out-of-bounds skiers and boarders but that’s just not the case. We get a lot of medical rescues for hikers and we get a lot of searches as well.”

Danks adds the better the weather, the more people show up which is why they have been ramping up their training and they’ve added seven new members.