Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for most of Vancouver Island on Friday, affecting multiple communities and highways.
The alert was issued around 9:40 a.m., with Environment Canada saying slow-moving thunderstorms “may produce heavy rain today.”
The watch is in effect for North, West, Inland and East Vancouver Island and affects all of the “northern half of Vancouver Island,” including the communities of Woss, Zeballos, Tahsis, Gold River, Sayward and Vernon Lake.
The alert also encompasses Highway 19 between Port McNeill and Campbell River, and Highway 28 between Gold River and Campbell River.
“This area is bordered by Port McNeill, Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park, and Strathcona Provincial Park,” said the weather office.
The areas under the severe thunderstorm watch are shown as of 10:15 a.m. July 17. (Environment Canada)
Environment Canada is warning drivers of potential flash flooding and limited visibility due to heavy rain, and says drivers should avoid travelling through flooded roadways.
It adds that people should seek shelter if they hear thunder or see lightning.
“When thunder roars, go indoors!” said Environment Canada. “Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year.”
Environment Canada meteorologist Jennifer Kowal says the thunderstorms are being caused by a low pressure system that’s made its way to the Island.
“Now that the centre is over Vancouver Island it’s really the northern part of the Island that’s still really vulnerable,” she said in an interview Friday morning. “Moving into the Centre Coast, Bella Coola, Heckman Pass, then moving through the Central Interior of B.C. and into the Peace District, is some of the areas we’re looking at today for some severe weather.”
Courtenay thunderstorm warning downgraded
Meanwhile, a short-lived “severe thunderstorm warning” was in effect for the Courtenay area on Friday morning, before being replaced by a “watch.”
Environment Canada posted the warning for the Courtenay area and surrounding communities, as well as Highway 19, at 8:15 a.m.
The alert was lifted by 8:35 a.m., before a watch was instated alongside the other severe thunderstorm watches on Vancouver Island around 9:40 a.m.
While the thunderstorm warning did not last long, during that time one Courtenay man says he felt a shock after lightning struck the roof of his home, causing it to catch fire.
Kowal says the warning was brief because a “severe cell” quickly passed through Comox.
“It looked like it was quite severe in terms of some pretty heavy downpours,” she said.
During the first warning, Environment Canada said that the thunderstorm was “capable of producing up to quarter size hail and heavy rain.”
Indeed, CHEK viewer photos of the Courtenay area on Friday morning show vehicles driving through flooded streets.
A flooded street is pictured in Courtenay at 8 a.m. (Janet Darby)
Environment Canada says severe thunderstorm warnings are issued if “imminent or occurring thunderstorms are expected to produce damaging hail, wind or rain.”
Kowal says Environment Canada looks for three main factors when deciding on whether or not to issue an alert.
“So we are looking for the possibility of 25 millimetres of rain, up to two centimetres of hail, or 90 kilometre wind gusts – and it doesn’t have to be all three of those things, it’s if we can reach one of those, then we would consider it to be severe.”
While thunder could be heard rumbling over Greater Victoria and lightning strikes were seen on Thursday, the storms did not reach the threshold for alerts.
“So in this case what we saw across Southern Vancouver Island – and we did see it in Vancouver as well – there was lots of lightning but we didn’t actually get any readings that was going to be considered severe,” said Kowal. “Whereas the cell that came across Comox really did look like it had the potential to be dropping 25 millimtres of rain out of it.”
Kowal adds that if you do see lightning or hear thunder, you should stay indoors for at least 30 minutes after the last strike or sound.
“Just because it’s ended it does not mean that it’s not still possible in the area that you’re in, so you do want to leave a bit of a buffer for when you go back outside,” she said.
The latest updates on the weather alerts can be found on the Environment Canada website.
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Correction: A previous version of this story said a “severe thunderstorm warning” was in effect. In fact, it is a “watch,” which is one scale down from a warning.
