Wind Knocks Down Trees, Cuts Power To Thousands

Tree down on 27th Street in Vernon across from courthouse. (Kiss FM photo)

UPDATE 4 pm:

A wind and rain storm that passed through the southern interior took its toll on trees and power lines.

More than 30-thousand customers are without power due to more than 90 outages in the Okanagan, Shuswap, Thompson and Kootenay areas.

Dag Sharman from BC Hydro says they are working as quickly as they can to restore service.

“We have extra crews coming from the Lower Mainland and other parts of the province to help out, and we also have all hands on decks locally, and with our contractor crews as well.”

Sharman says most of the damage was caused by trees or branches falling on lines or onto equipment.

Westside Road is closed in both directions 23.5 km north of Junction with Highway 97 South due to a downed hydro line.

Drive BC says no detour available. The estimated time of opening is currently unavailable.

UPDATE 3 pm

A wind storm that swept through the Okanagan and Shuswap has left numerous downed trees and thousands of people without power.

The storm brought strong gusts that knocked down trees and branches this afternoon.

Dag Sharman from BC Hydro says about 8,000 customers lost power in the Okanagan and about 8,000 in the Shuswap.

“These are a large number of separate power outages. In a lot of cases, it’s not a lot of customers for each outage, but each has to be attended to  by our crews and that’s the big challenge, and as of now, there are more than 20 outages in parts of the Okanagan,” Sharman tells Kiss FM.

There is no estimate on when the various outages can be restored.

The storm brought down a large part of tree onto a vehicle on 27th Street in Vernon, but it’s not believed there were any injuries or major damage.

The Cedar Ridge Park planning open house that was scheduled for this evening at the White Valley Community Centre in Lumby, has been cancelled and is being rescheduled due to weather-related power outages.

A new meeting date will be scheduled within the next several weeks.

Tree branch lands on vehicle in Armstrong (from Karen Phillipson)

UPDATE: 2 pm

The North Okanagan is getting hit with a storm — as are other parts of the BC Interior.

The weather has brought strong winds and rain.

The wind knocked down part of a tree on 27th Street across from the courthouse.

BC Hydro says around 5,000 customers are without power in parts of Vernon, Coldstream, Armstrong and Spallumcheen due to three separate outages.

The tree may have clipped a vehicle when it came down, but no word if there were any injuries.

Environment Canada says strong westerly wind gusts and heavy showers are expected during the storm which should pass by this evening.

UPDATE: 12:44 pm

A special weather statement has been updated for the North Okanagan and other parts of the province.

An intense fall storm will continue to impact the BC interior this afternoon.

The storm’s low pressure centre accompanied with a squall line near Salmon Arm will move across the Columbias and northern Kootenays this afternoon.

As the low passes, very strong westerly wind gusts and heavy showers are expected.

Snow levels will drop sharply in the afternoon to near 900 metres. Over Rogers Pass, there is the possibility for heavy flurries and strong winds to reduce visibility to near zero.

Wind in the North Okanagan is expected to produce gusts of 40 to 60 km-h, and between 70 and 90 in the Shuswap.

11 am

A wind warning remains in effect for the Shuswap.

Environment Canada says strong westerly winds with gusts of 70 to 90 km/h will develop late this morning as an intense fall storm moves across the B.C. Interior.

There is also a potential for a squall line to develop with intense thunderstorms.

“The squall line would bring frequent lightning, heavy showers possibly mixed with small hail,” says the weather agency.

There is also wind warnings in effect for the South Thompson, West Columbia and Fraser Valley regions.

The Vernon area is expected to get winds of up to 60 km-h this afternoon.