Monday February 20, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Last updated February 22, 2023]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
On this BC Family Day the weather was grey with wind gusts and rain in the west shore region of south Vancouver Island.
As of about 6:30 pm there were 4,565 BC Hydro customers without power in the south Vancouver Island region, resulting from eight outage points.
- Most of the impacted customers are in the North Cowichan area (2,060) with about six in the Duncan area.
- The Metchosin/East Sooke area had 1,195 customers without power, with another 574 in Sooke and west of Sooke without power (power off since 5:16 pm due to trees down across wires).
- In Highlands/Langford there were 733 customers without power (due to equipment failure that was reported at 4:43 pm).
As at 7:45 pm the power outage footprint had become broader, affecting 15,784 BC Hydro customers on south Vancouver Island including 2,387 in Langford, 3,272 in Colwood/Langford/Metchosin, 3,383 in North Cowichan, and continuing with 1,195 Metchosin/East Sooke.
While wind gusts continued into the night, by 2:15 am on Tuesday February 21, the number of BC Hydro customers without power on south Vancouver Island was down to 7,343. Restoration had occured in some areas, but new to the list included Duncan, Ganges Island, Mayne Island, and Central Saanich, as well as a few in Saanich and North Saanich.
Continued outage in Langford overnight:
Continuing without power in one small section of Langford in the Happy Valley area (Happy Valley Rd, Turnstone Drive, Gala Court) is an outage with 84 BC Hydro customers affected since 8:54 pm. A crew is expected on site by 3 am Tuesday. The cause of that outage was at first under investigation and it turned out to be trees down across wires.
By 3 am Tuesday morning the number of customers without power on south Vancouver Island was down to 6,068, but with wind gusts continuing through the overnight the number of customers without power was back up to 8,239 at 4 am. Back down to 4,280 by 4:30 am.
As of 2:18 pm on Tuesday afternoon, only 369 BC Hydro customers on south Vancouver Island remained without power as a result of this particular wind storm.
Further updates to BC Hydro outages are available online.
Weather forecast:
The Environment Canada weather forecast for Victoria / south Vancouver Island shows temperatures falling over the next 24 hours, with snow flurries in the forecast for Wednesday (February 22).
Tonight there will be periods of rain ending after midnight, then skies will be cloudy. Wind southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 increasing to 40 gusting to 70, except 70 gusting to 100 near the Juan de Fuca Strait. Low plus 5.
Next day:
Wind gusts have continued overnight Monday into Tuesday morning. The Environment Canada forecast for Victoria for Tuesday (Feb 21) shows showers in the afternoon and evening, with temperatures reaching 1°C by nightfall. Snow flurries are in the Wednesday forecast.
Emergency preparedness:
These unexpected power outages are a good reminder to have battery-operated lighting handy for immediate use, with an additional supply of batteries. If your home relies on electricity for heat, be prepared with additional blankets for a short-term evening outage.
Find a wide range of emergency preparedness tips on the CRD Emergency Preparedness website.
