Forget a white Christmas on B.C.'s south coast -- try a very wet, warm one.

The region was deluged with heavy rain and strong winds throughout the day on Christmas Eve, with localized flooding on Vancouver Island and several power outages. Temperatures in some areas were forecast to reach the double digits.

The rain was expected to ease up Friday night, but officials warned the risk of flooding could continue for days.

Environment Canada issued rainfall and gale-force-wind warnings covering all of Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and much of the province's central coast. As much as 110 millimetres of rain was expected to fall in some areas, accompanied by wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour.

The B.C. River Forecast Centre issued flood warnings along the Quinsam and Tsolum rivers on northern Vancouver Island, along with less-severe advisories for other parts of the island. The centre said river levels are expected to rise quickly, and high tides could also increase that threat.

Some localized flooding was reported in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, although there were no evacuations as of Friday afternoon.

Courtenay's mayor, Greg Phelps, said several businesses were flooded, with locals using sandbags to keep the water out.

"Luckily, this is one of the slower days of the year ... people are sort of gathering families now and not really relying on the business retail for today," Phelps said.

The city has issued its own flood alert, warning the risk of flooding will continue for several days because of a combination of heavy rain, rising freezing levels, melting snow and high tides.

Sandbags are being stockpiled and the city says evacuations may be necessary if the water rises too much.

Heavy rains and high tides resulted in flooding twice within a couple of weeks last January in Courtenay and some people were forced to leave their homes. The city was also hit by flooding in November of 2009.

The province's River Forecast Centre was asking residents in Comox Valley and Campbell River area to keep their guard up.

"There are sandbags being distributed to residents and businesses owners if they feel they require them," said the centre's Luanne Chew.

Although rainfall was expected to easy by Friday evening, Chew said rising river levels could still cause flooding.

"Rivers will continue to rise (Friday) and are expected to peak later tonight," Chew said.

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the west coast of Vancouver Island warned visitors to stay away from beaches and shorelines.

The park issued an advisory saying the park was expecting high tides, heavy rains and seven-metre swells, which could lead to flooded parking lots, floating logs, strong ocean surges and blown-down trees.

The wild weather was a Christmas treat for avid storm watcher, who often congregate at the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino for a front-row seat.

"It is high tide, we've got logs floating out there in the bay and the waves are rolling in," said Charles McDiarmid, managing director of the Wickaninnish Inn.

"We probably got a 15 foot wave height right now that we are seeing..It's pretty spectacular."

McDiarmid said he had a few storm watchers staying on Christmas Eve, but he expects it to be busier after Christmas.

The weather also kept thousands of residents in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine coast in the dark for several hours. High winds brought down power lines in West Vancouver and in the Powell River area, leaving about 2,000 customers without power in each spot.

BC Hydro expected the power to be restored by mid-afternoon.

"I've been here two months, but when I talk to the restoration guys, this stuff does happen," said spokesman Greg Alexis. "It's where we live."

Doug Lundquist, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the soggy weather was the result of a small or mid-sized pineapple express caused by warm weather.

Despite all of the storm and wind warnings, Lundquist said it's typical winter weather for the West Coast.

"From about middle of October, specially in November and December, this is the season for these type of storms," said Lundquist.