Special Weather Statement issued for Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley

METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A special weather statement has been issued for parts of south eastern Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

“It’s just kind of giving people a heads up of the potential for strong gusty winds through the affected areas,” explains Meteorologist Jonathan Bau with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “But we weren’t expecting the wind speeds to hit warning criteria, so that’s just the difference between issuing a wind warning versus a special weather statement is more of a heads up,”

He warns of strong winds between 50 kilometres an hour gusting up to 80 in parts of the region, mostly affecting Chilliwack, Abbotsford, parts of Surrey, White Rock, and Langley. The rest of Metro Vancouver is not expected to be affected by winds.

Winds are expected to fluctuate throughout the afternoon and into the evening, with everything dying down by tomorrow morning.

“The wind warning criteria for Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley is 70 kilometres per hour sustained, with gusts to 90 kilometres per hour,” he says. “The potential [now] the leaves are still on the trees, and the potential is there for power lines to be affected just with this strong gusty winds.”

Bau recommends securing loose objects and making sure there’s nothing lying around that could become airborne.

Cooler temperatures in the forecast

Things are about to cool down around BC, including in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Bau says an arctic front is bound for the province, which means temperatures are expected to fall Wednesday onward, eventually to below seasonal temperatures.

“Thursday night, Friday night we’re looking at a low of plus one for the Fraser Valley and high of six,” he says. “Seasonal is around a high of 11 low of plus five, so the daytime high is basically the seasonal low.”

Bau adds most places around BC will be below seasonal by the end of the week.