UPDATE: 6 p.m.
Power has been restored to 1,100 BC Hydro customers at SilverStar Mountain Resort after they were left without for more than two hours on a snowy Sunday afternoon June 10.
“It was caused by the snow, which caused problems with our equipment,” said Dag Sharman, BC Hydro community relations manager.
Sharman said snow that captures grit and interacts with equipment can often result in equipment failure. However, it isn’t a problem often seen in June.
“It does happen from time to time, but it isn’t common,” Sharman said, referencing a similar incident several years ago.
Wesla Wong, meteorologist and SilverStar Mountain Resort spokesperson, measured 22 centimetres of snow at the resort Sunday morning and said snow continued to fall.
According to Environment Canada, snow is possible overnight and Monday morning at elevations above 1,300 metres as a cool and unstable airmass is situated above the southern Interior.
“We appreciate the understanding and patience of customers as we work to restore power safely,” Sharman said.
The outage occurred at approximately 3:18 p.m., and power was restored at 5:33 p.m.
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Original
An outage has left 831 BC Hydro customers without power at a snow-covered SilverStar Mountain Resort.
According to BC Hydro, power has been off since 3:18 p.m. Sunday, June 10. Crews are on site and the cause is under investigation. Hydro estimates that power will return at 6 p.m.
The outage occurred in tandem with unseasonable snow fall, which was measured at 22 centimetres Sunday morning.
It is not yet known whether the two instances are linked.
Related: Snow on mountains, highway weather statements in effect
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