Thousands without power in Metro Vancouver after wind storm

A wind storm that swept across southern B.C. Tuesday led to power outages for thousands of residents, with many still in the dark Wednesday morning.

A warning was issued Tuesday night for parts of Metro Vancouver as wind gusts reached up to 90 km/h. In some cases, the storm led to falling trees, with power outages affecting more than 28,000 customers at the peak.

BC Hydro crews were still restoring power Wednesday morning, with about 8,000 customers affected in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast as of 7 a.m.

The region was also hit with a significant rain storm, which led to its own weather advisory from Environment Canada. Preliminary data from the federal weather agency shows West Vancouver got 52 millimetres of rain on Tuesday, while further east, in Maple Ridge, 55 millimetres of rain fell.

Meanwhile, Vancouver Harbour saw 42 millimetres. That one-day rain total makes up 70 per cent of the total amount of rain that fell in the entire month of April. Last month, 59.7 millimetres of rain was calculated in Vancouver, according to Environment Canada.

While the rain is certainly welcome news heading into wildfire season, officials say the province will need to see a lot more to make a significant difference.

"It isn't going to impact our drought code, which is those deeper levels, so in terms of the fire behaviour that we could see later in the season, this rain isn't going to necessarily impact what we see in July and August moving forward," Sarah Budd, BC Wildfire Service information officer, told CTV News Vancouver.

More rain is expected in Metro Vancouver in the coming days, with a 60 per cent chance of showers in Friday's forecast. Showers are also expected from Sunday through Tuesday, Environment Canada's forecast shows.