Forecasters are warning of swollen creeks and rivers as heavy rain sweeps over southern British Columbia.
High streamflow advisories have been posted for all of Vancouver Island, the south coast and the southern Interior, warning that the possible rapid rise in rivers poses a risk to public safety.
Environment Canada says a Pacific frontal system washed over Vancouver Island and the south coast over the weekend, bringing up to 90 millimetres to Haida Gwaii and more than 80 millimetres on Saturna Island.
The River Forecast Centre says streams and rivers on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Howe Sound are expected to rise into Monday with possible localized flooding.
Meanwhile, The River Forecast Centre this afternoon expanded a High Streamflow Advisory issued yesterday evening for the Southern Interior. It now includes Okanagan and Similkameen in addition to Boundary, West and East Kootenay.
Environment Canada is warning residents in southeastern B.C., from the Boundary region through the West and East Kootenay regions, to expect as much as 50 millimetres of rain before it eases on Tuesday.
The river forecaster says the smaller, low-elevation creeks and rivers in the region are the most at risk of flash flooding because of the remaining snowpack.
“These rain-on-snow events have a high amount of uncertainty based on rainfall totals, ripeness of the snowpack to melt and the fluctuation of the freezing level,” the centre says in its advisory.
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