More rain in B.C. forecast, although 'nothing' compared to atmospheric river

A business owner in Deep Cove removed sandbags on Oct. 20, 2024.

The District of North Vancouver is getting ready for another bout of rain after an atmospheric river weather system drenched B.C.'s south coast last weekend, triggering a mudslide and localized flooding that killed at least three people.

The North Shore mountains could see another 75 millimetres of rain this weekend, and Lisa Muri, a councillor with the district, says staff are preparing by cleaning up culverts and placing sandbags throughout the community.

Muri says last weekend's storm was unprecedented, bringing nearly 350 millimetres of rain over three days.

She says the downpours caused creeks to swell and pick up wood debris and gravel that blocked culverts and drainage channels, sending torrents of brown water down streets in the waterfront neighbourhood of Deep Cove.

Ken Dosanjh, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says the rain in the forecast will be "nothing" compared with last weekend's storm, and it will come in a series of "pulses" rather than forming an atmospheric river.

He says North Vancouver could see up to 75 millimetres of rain in the coming days, but it will fall over multiple days at a lower intensity than the last storm.

"With the atmospheric river, we saw precipitation rates on the order of 10, even upwards of 20 millimetres an hour, which is extremely high," he said Thursday.

"In this case, we're noticing precipitation rates kind of fall around four to eight millimetres per hour, maybe reaching 10 (in) extreme cases."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.