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B.C. Ferries cancels Saturday sailings on major routes due to high winds

Heavy winds led to the cancellation of 64 ferry sailings on Friday, and B.C. Ferries warned there could be more to come over the weekend. By 7 a.m. Saturday, B.C. Ferries had cancelled several sailings.
Jeff Bell,Cindy E. Harnett

Heavy winds led to the cancellation of 64 ferry sailings on Friday, and B.C. Ferries warned there could be more to come over the weekend.

By 7 a.m. Saturday, B.C. Ferries had cancelled several sailings.

Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay

  • Departing Tsawwassen — 11 a.m., 1 p.m.
  • Departing Swartz Bay — 11 a.m., 1 p.m.

Tsawwassen – Duke Point

  • Departing Tsawwassen — 10:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m.
  • Departing Duke Point — 10:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m.

Horseshoe Bay – Departure Bay

  • Departing Horseshoe — 10:40 a.m., 1 p.m.
  • Departing Departure Bay — 10:40 a.m., 1 p.m.

You can find more information on the B.C. Ferries website, including what to do if you have a reservation for one of those sailings.

Wind warnings remained in effect for Greater Victoria, the Southern Gulf Islands and Metro Vancouver on Saturday morning, with gusts of up to 90 kilometres an hour expected.

“We’ll keep a close eye on it and we’ll post any information as soon as possible for our customers,” said B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall.

She said wind speed, wind direction and wave height are among the factors looked at ahead of cancellations.

Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist said an Arctic front scheduled to set in on Sunday could bring snow to the capital region.

The temperature on Monday night into Tuesday might drop to -6 C, he said, but the chance of snow will be greatest on Wednesday or later in the week.

Throughout the Island, the weather pattern should stay similar to Friday’s for the next few days, Lundquist said.

Several parts of the Island received snow on Friday.

Snowy road conditions were blamed for an ambulance flipping on its roof on the Inland Island Highway, about 30 kilometres north of Parksville. The Courtenay-based crew was unhurt in the 10:40 a.m. crash; they had just transported a patient so one else was in the vehicle.

In Campbell River, rain was falling by about 1 p.m. after an earlier snowfall, Campbell River RCMP Const. Maury Tyre said. “There’s still slippery sections on the highways,” Tyre said. “We had a couple of minor accidents up here this morning.”

A big issue for motorists is that there is a variety of elevations to consider, especially on the Inland Island Highway, he said.

Tyre had some advice for winter travellers.

“Exercise caution and make sure you’ve got the proper tires, and are prepared for bad weather,” he said. “Those varying levels of elevation will create varying levels of danger.”

Higher locations such as Sutton Pass between Port Alberni and Tofino/Ucluelet remained snow-covered through the day.

B.C. Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk said there was a large number of weather-related power outages Friday. Most were around Lake Cowichan, where there was a peak of more than 5,000 affected customers. You can find its outage list here.

Olynyk said a transmission line was brought down by a tree that fell under the weight of heavy snow.

On the mainland, Metro Vancouver endured its first major snow storm of the winter.

The Ministry of Transportation said police closed the Alex Fraser Bridge because of concerns about safety. Slush accumulated on the cable stays and with the high winds, ice began shedding onto the bridge deck, the ministry said.

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— With files from the Canadian Press and the Vancouver Sun