Thursday January 11, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated Friday January 12, 2024]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE: Schools (SD61, SD62 & SD63) and post-secondary campuses are open, with advisories about slower and some cancelled bus routes (Sooke School District 62 for Langford, Colwood and Sooke) and cold wind chill (Royal Roads University in Colwood).
Snow has been in the forecast for a few days now. Arctic air was seen by weather forecasters as incoming for today and lasting through most of this weekend. Night time temperatures will be back above 0°C by Tuesday of next week.
Winter safety preparation advisories have been issued by various levels of government, including by Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry during her first media session of 2024 which was otherwise about the 2023-2024 respiratory illness season.
Environment Canada’s Victoria statement included an Arctic Outflow Warning earlier today, including that Arctic air combined with strong outflow winds gusting up to 60 km/h will generate wind chill values of minus 20 beginning tonight.
Snow began falling in the Greater Victoria area around 3 pm this afternoon. By evening there is already of light blanket of the white fluffy stuff on the ground around the region.
A few power outages:
As of 5 pm, power outages were being experienced by 2,955 BC Hydro customers on South Vancouver Island (due to trees down across utility wires), with 1,859 of those in areas of Esquimalt, Saanich and View Royal. West of Sooke there were outages for 964 BC Hydro customers.
Winds are quite calm and snow seemed to have abated already by 6 pm, with no further outages.
Wind chill:
We don’t often hear about a wind chill factor in the Greater Victoria as temperatures have traditionally been mild in winter.
Tonight the temperature at 6 pm was -4.2°C with a wind chill of -12°C due to light winds at about 32°C. The overnight wind chill is forecast as -21°C.
Update Friday morning January 12:
In Nanaimo 1,029 BC Hydro customers have been without power since 3:43 am; crews are expected by 10:30 am. Nine customers are without power in Oak Bay.
Currently a very chilly -10°C mid-morning in Greater Victoria with a windchill of -20°C! Below-zero day temperatures through to Sunday, and below-zero night temperatures through to Tues Jan 16. [See Environment Canada Victoria Forecast updates]
Layers for safety:
In cold weather it’s best to dress in layers. The outer layer should be wind-resistant, says Jeri Grant of the Juan de Fuca Emergency Program.
Synthetic and wool fabrics provide good insulating properties.
Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with a significantly low wind chill.
===== RELATED:
Jan 2024 respiratory season update emphasizes vaccination (January 10, 2024)
South Vancouver Island power outages Jan 9 (January 9, 2024)