Storms on Christmas, 1st day of Hanukkah

If you’re heading out to celebrate the holidays, it might be time to grab your raincoat and boots.

Heavy rain and strong winds are set to hit B.C.’s South Coast, including the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, beginning Tuesday.

1130 NewsRadio meteorologist Carl Lam explains that there’s even the potential that Environment and Climate Change Canada issues a rainfall warning for Wednesday, the first day of Hanukkah and Christmas Day.

“We also have very strong and gusty winds. Those wind gusts right near the water could reach 60 to 70 kilometres per hour,” Lam explained. “And on the western portion of Vancouver Island, those gusts could easily get to 90 to 100 kilometres per hour.”

But it’s not just the wind that will blow through, Lam says.

“For Vancouver Island, you could also be expecting 75, 100 millimetres of rain is possible,” he said.

“We go into Thursday and Friday, and we’re still tacking on more rain, because both days it’s still windy, we’ll still have rain showers that are pretty steady at times, another 10 to 20 millimeters on both days, and that is being conservative,” Lam added.

Much of the South Coast remains under a Special Weather Statement, as Environment Canada warns of a “series” of storms that will hit the region by the end of the week.

The national weather service says as the storms progress, “Weather warnings will be issued if necessary as confidence in the storm tracks and impacts grows.”

Lam says that for those getting ready to hit mountain highways, you should really prepare for snow.

“[If] you’re taking the Sea to Sky, that could be very treacherous, especially since there’s a decent shot of alpine snow headed that way,” Lam explained.

Listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver weather updates every 10 minutes after traffic on the ones. You can also follow Meteorologist Carl Lam on X and subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.