9:30PM – Worst wind may be over – Highway 4 is closed between Port Alberni and Parksville
The Airport peaked at 65kph
Alberniweather peaked at 66kph
Nanaimo peaked at 68kph
Qualicum peaked at 65kph
The Easterly winds in the Valley created a strange situation with the City mostly calm, protected by Mt Arrowsmith, but the Valley areas slammed. 132,000 people are out of power across the Coast.
We could still see strong winds through Wednesday morning.
I am headed to bed. Here is hoping the power stays on! Be safe out there!
7:30PM – Power out in Port Alberni and Alberniweather. Mt Arrowsmith is sheltering the City.
This was already a historic storm. Now the impacts are going to be historic as well. All of Port Alberni is out and tens of thousands are out on Vancouver Island. I expect we will see most of the Island lose power.
The data feed from the weather station to the website is obviously down. I will post updates on the Mastodon feed. You can see it on the front page.
The extremely interesting thing is because of the East wind, Mt. arrowsmith is sheltering the City.
However, the Alberni Airport has seen some of the strongest winds. 65kph and 69kph at 5PM and 6PM respectively!
But I can’t check it because Environment Canada’s website is down!
6:00PM – POD LIVE NOW! COME JOIN THE LIVESTREAM – Port Alberni has top winds so far!
5:15PM – The Storm is starting to be felt.
On the drive home! The wind is getting real! There are trees down on Highway 4 and the lights are flickering in Port Alberni
2:30PM – The Storm is starting to be felt.
It’s a thing of beauty!
The storm is now fully formed. It’s already impacting us even though it is over 400km away and will not get any closer than that.
The barometer is always the best instrument to see an incoming storm and this time is no different. We will soon be below 100kPa (1000mb).
Strongest Winds between 6PM and 9PM tonight
All of the models and forecasts are in agreement. We will see the strongest winds tonight around 8PM or between 6 and 9PM. This will include Port Alberni. I expect we have a very good chance of seeing winds at or over 70kph.
Watching tides and offshore buoys.
The low pressure can cause the sea level to rise slightly as will the strong winds once they start blowing up the Albenri Inlet. The winds have not started to blow yet, but the low pressure in the Pacific is already causing a slightly higher than normal water level at the Port Alberni tide gauge.
Tide chart for Port Alberni station. Click to go to the Tides website.
I will also be watching the offshore buoys and the light stations along the coast of Vancouver Island for their highest winds and wave heights!
A screenshot of the Environment Canada marine weather website. Click to go there.
11:45AM – BC Ferries Cancelled Evening Sailings – Storm Spinning up – Latest Model has highest wind at 7-8PM tonight
Just got a notice from BC Ferries for Departure Bay and Duke Point (other routes likely also affected check bcferries.com)
Cancelled Sailings: 8:45 pm leaving Departure Bay 10:10 pm leaving Horseshoe Bay
8:15 pm departing Tsawwassen 8:15 pm departing Duke Point 10:45 pm departing Tsawwassen 10:45 pm departing Duke Point
And look at that low develop! Just in the past 3 hours the definition of the circular “eye” has popped up!
The latest models (below) have the strongest winds in our area between 7PM and 8PM but could occur anytime between 6PM and 9PM.
This is the image for 8PM Tuesday night – Click to go to Model itself.
9:20AM – That Marine Forecast!
It’s been a minute since I’ve seen a Hurricane Force Wind Warning for our local marine waters but there it is. (You can see it in the tabs on the main page as well under “Marine”)
The details are impressive in that forecast. Southeast 50-65 (knots) is 90-120kph on the water. And the seas! Building to 8 to 11 metres late overnight. That’s 36ft! If you’re on the West Coast you’re going to see some incredible sights. I would imagine Long Beach and other beaches will be closed for safety. Please abide by all posted closures and don’t risk getting yourself in an unsafe place!
8:30AM – Nov 19 – Come back for Updates
I will be updating this post throughout the day and the duration of this event. Newest information will be at the top.
Waiting for morning models – Watching the Storm form – Snow in Port Alberni!
Here’s a quick 5 minute podcast highlighting the main information for the storm.
The morning run of the weather models is just starting. I will make another update later this morning with the output from those final models before the windstorm is expected to arrive.
We had snow this morning! Flurries were in the forecast, but it was definitely a little more than I had expected when I got in the car this morning but the story is this beast!!
That’s what a Bomb Cyclone looks like! And it’s just getting ‘revved’ up. Over the next few hours it will start to look more like a Hurricane. That is as close as the centre will get (the top left of the empty part to the left side of centre of the image).
You can see the full extent of it in this morning’s satellite image below.
I will add more as we go today. Stay safe out there.
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