Waves of up to 9.5 metres (about 31 feet) rose up in the waters off of Vancouver Island’s west coast on Thursday, one day after hurricane-force winds were witnessed offshore.
The heights were witnessed at the Perouse Bank Buoy west of Tofino, according to Environment Canada.
To give a sense of scale, 9.5 metres is about the height of a three-storey building.
The waves are expected to taper off over the next 12 hours, but a marine meteorologist said they were “very significant.”
And just because the waves are subsiding, that doesn’t mean that storm conditions have alleviated completely.
READ MORE: Hurricane-force winds could brings waves of up to 43 feet off Vancouver Island’s shores
A gale warning was in effect for southern Vancouver Island as of Thursday morning.
Winds were expected to blow at up to 83 kilometres per hour before falling off to about 60 km/h in the evening and 56 km/h on Friday.
Waves were expected to reach heights of up to eight metres in the evening before subsiding to six metres overnight.
High waves were witnessed at Cox Bay in Tofino, where the water reached such levels it essentially covered the beach.
The District of Tofino closed beach access amid the high water.
Meanwhile, a storm warning was in effect for northern Vancouver Island, with winds expected to blow at up to around 83 km/h in the afternoon before falling off to a range of 46 km/h to 65 km/h overnight.
Sea levels there were forecast to hit as much as eight meters in the evening and six metres later on.
The outer coast of Vancouver Island saw swells reaching as high as 14 metres on Thursday — almost the height of a five-storey building.
This all came one day after winds blowing at speeds of up to 163 km/h were witnessed off of Vancouver Island — though they, too, subsided later.
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