Drenching rains slide into B.C. as atmospheric river arrives
Portions of B.C. can expect several rounds of rain over the next few days
The kickoff to the rainy season is here for British Columbia as a fresh atmospheric river pushes into the region through the end of the weekend.
Some areas could see triple-digit rainfall totals heading into early this week.
DON’T MISS: What’s the wettest month in your corner of Canada?
B.C.’s recent precipitation deficit is no joke. Through the middle of the month, Vancouver had only seen 20 per cent of its normal precipitation. Some areas like Williams Lake had seen no measurable rainfall at all.
Moisture flowing into B.C. into this week will help to put a dent in those deficits for some areas, though most of the rainfall is expected across the Central and North coasts.
Communities including Bella Bella and Prince Rupert could see 75-100+ mm of additional rain through Sunday, with much lighter totals on tap south through the Lower Mainland.
This is only the first in a series of systems expected to swing into B.C. through the middle of this upcoming week.
We’ll watch a centre of high pressure over the northern Pacific weaken in the days ahead, allowing the jet stream to dip south.
This pattern shift will bring a parade of low-pressure systems into the B.C. coast through the final full week of September—encouraging more wet weather for the end of the month.
September is the traditional starting point for the wet season across the West Coast. Vancouver experiences the bulk of its annual rainfall between October and January.
Header image courtesy of Unsplash.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across B.C.