About 8,300 BC Hydro customers were without power on Monday as of 8 a.m., after an intense winter storm brought strong winds and freezing temperatures to the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast.
Chilliwack appeared to be the hardest hit, with outages reported in the Cultus Lake/Vedder Mountain area where more than 1,000 customers were in the dark. Also affected were Abbotsford, Langley and the District of Kent.
Most of the outages were caused by falling trees after strong arctic outflow winds pounded the area throughout the night.
Temperatures were -10 in Chilliwack Monday morning, with a windchill of -17.
Environment Canada has a special weather statement in place for the North Shore to Langley.
Cold air is being spread throughout the region by an Arctic ridge of high pressure from the Interior, it said.
Temperatures will stay below what’s normal for this time of year until about midweek. Winds are expected to ease off Monday and Tuesday.
No more significant snowfall is expected.
