WATCH: The South Coast got a major downpour on Sunday, prompting a special weather statement from Environment Canada. Jennifer Palma reports.
A welcome drenching for the South Coast this weekend was strong enough to prompt a special weather statement from Environment Canada.
Lawns and gardens across Metro Vancouver soaked up the downpour.
At Coal Harbour, at least 16 millimetres of rain fell — double the amount of precipitation for the entire month of June.
On Sunday, Stanley Park got 17 millimetres of rain, while Abbotsford got 20 and Whistler got 10. About seven millimetres of rain fell at the Vancouver Airport.
The average rainfall for July is 35.6 millimetres, and so far 20.8 millimetres has fallen, with the majority falling this past weekend.
In June, Metro Vancouver only got 11 millimetres of rain, while the average total is 53.8 millimetres.
But this weekend’s storm wasn’t enough to reverse drought conditions or lift the Stage 3 water restrictions in place for the region.
Metro Vancouver Utilities Committee Chair Darrell Mussatto say his biggest worry is people will assume water restrictions are not as important now that some rain has fallen.
Water reservoirs are low at 69 per cent, the level usually seen in late August.
“People see the rainfall for a couple of days and think, ‘Oh, it’s okay to go back to our old ways, start watering our lawns and such.’ In fact, we cannot,” says Mussatto. “We have to stay strong and continue to follow restrictions because this amount of rainfall does not really dent the reservoirs much.”
Meanwhile, rainy conditions, combined with the hard work of fire crews around the province, lead to favourable progress on a number of wildfires burning around B.C. this weekend.
The Adams West wildfire, about 20 kilometres southeast of Clearwater, is now 100 per cent contained and the Westside Road fire near West Kelowna is now 75 per cent contained. Both evacuation orders and alerts have been lifted for this fire.
The Bolean Lake Fire, located five kilometres northwest of Falkland, is now 75 per cent contained as well.
And after weeks of no rain, the skies opened up over the Coquihalla Highway between Merritt and Kamloops on Sunday, leading to multiple crashes.
-With files from Jennifer Palma
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