UPDATE:
Environment Canada says a powerful windstorm was expected to lash much of the west coast of Vancouver Island with strong gusts and towering waves capable of inundating low-lying shorelines.
The weather office warned of dangerous storm surges on Monday as west winds gust to 100 kilometres per hour.
The agency said the winds could send waves of up to 12 metres “crashing onshore” during the height of the storm.
A wind warning was also issued for Greater Victoria with west winds of 70 to 90 kilometres forecast over the region until Tuesday.
The incoming system was also slated to blanket southern Interior mountain passes, including the Coquihalla Highway and Kootenay Pass, with 35 to 40 centimetres of snow before changing to flurries Tuesday.
Environment Canada said the coastal storm could bring blackouts and falling tree limbs to the Juan de Fuca Strait area, including Victoria, but it specifically warned storm watchers on western Vancouver Island to “be alert for exceptionally high waves.”
“Keep away from large logs on the beach,” the agency said in its forecast. “Water running up on the beach can easily lift or roll logs which can injure someone caught in their path.
***
ORIGINAL:
Heavy rain and gusty winds are forecast for several parts of British Columbia as winter melts into spring.
Environment Canada says up to 100 millimetres of rain is expected in West Vancouver Island, Howe Sound, East Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver until Monday.
It warns of wind gusts reaching up to 100 kilometres per hour in parts of west and east Vancouver islands, Sunshine Coast, Southern Gulf Islands and Metro Vancouver.
It says an approaching frontal system will give strong winds to the B.C. south coast with squalls easing slightly early Monday morning.
The weather agency says a low pressure system offshore will bring “very strong” west winds of 80 to 100 kilometres per hour towards the western Vancouver Island coast beginning late Monday morning into the evening.
It says periods of heavy rain and localized gusty winds are forecast for Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Gibsons, Sechelt, and Lower Fraser Valley north of the Fraser River until Monday.
