B.C. year in review 2018: Storms, smoke, snow round out year of wild weather

As the clock ticked down on the final days of 2018, B.C.’s south coast was walloped by one of the most powerful storms it has seen in decades.

It was a potent reminder of what Mother Nature can do, and how much of an impact she can have on  the daily lives of British Columbians.

But that big storm was just one of a number of extreme weather events that made headlines in 2018.

Here’s a look back at some of the more memorable ones.

Let it snow

WATCH: Heavy snowfall creates traffic chaos across Metro Vancouver suburbs.

1:34 Heavy snowfall creates traffic chaos across Metro Vancouver suburbs.

While B.C.s Interior is used to having snow stick around through until the end of winter, that’s not usually the case on the South Coast.

So imagine Metro Vancouver’s surprise to be socked in with a heavy dump of snow in late February.

The region saw accumulation of more than 10 cm in a single day — a big snow event by Vancouver’s standards any time of year.

The snowfall led to commuter chaos, along with some more unusual moments, like this Lamborghini that managed to spin out in the wild weather:

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B.C. floods

WATCH: BC Flood: Canadian Forces assist sandbagging efforts in Grand Forks

1:53 BC Flood: Canadian Forces assist sandbagging efforts in Grand Forks

From the end of April through early June, B.C.’s Interior faced major flooding, with rising waters forcing thousands of people from their homes.

Premier John Horgan described the flooding, brought on by a prolonged period of warm weather that melted snowpack, as a “one in a hundred years” event.

The Kootenay Boundary-region community of Grand Forks was particularly hard hit, with multiple buildings and homes damaged — and some homeowners even trapped in their residences. In December, the province announced nearly $3 million in aid for the community.

WATCH: Coverage of B.C.’s 2018 floods on Globalnews.ca

Over the course of the flooding, thousands of people were forced to evacuate from homes in Kelowna, Grand Forks, Osoyoos, Keremeos and other communities in the Southern Interior.

The rapidly rising Fraser River also prompted limited evacuations and evacuation alerts in the Fraser Valley.

The floods also saw the deployment of Canadian Forces troops to help battle the rising waters, along with the assistance of more than 300 people from BC Wildfire Service.

All told, the devastating flood season cost the province more than $162 million.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire

WATCH: Heavy wildfire smoke drifts into Prince George causing dark skies

2:45 Heavy wildfire smoke drifts into Prince George causing dark skies

At one point this summer, the smoke billowing from B.C.’s massive wildfires was so thick, it appeared to be night time during broad daylight in Prince George.

The thick smoke socked in B.C.’s Interior for weeks, pushed down to the Metro Vancouver area and created “apocalyptic” conditions as far away as Alberta, Ontario and even Ireland at one point.

Many communities saw the air quality health index top out over 10 — meaning very hazardous — for days on end. Residents were urged to stay indoors and public health officials counselled people to find refuge in malls and swimming pools.

WATCH: Coverage of wildfire smoke on Globalnews.ca

0:38 Time-lapse video shows smoke turn day to night in Fort St. James

• Time-lapse video shows smoke turn day to night in Fort St. James
• Haze returns to Metro Vancouver
• Wildfires and mental health
• Another day of smoky air in Alberta’s capital
• Video shows Vancouver covered in smoke, blocking out bridges and buildings as wildfires continue
• Amateur video captures smoke-filled Vancouver skyline
• Long term effects of lingering B.C. wildfire smoke
• Smoke from B.C. wildfires results in pitch-black conditions in northwest Alberta
• Wild fire smoke darkens Prince George sky
• Wildfire smoke creates poor air quality from B.C. to M.B.

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Fortunately, the prolonged smoke didn’t come with any permanent health risks.

The smoke pouring off of hundreds of wildfires stacked up to yet another record year for B.C.

More than 1.25 million hectares burned in more than 2,050 fires in 2018, more than any previous recorded year — and surpassing the previous record of 1.2 million set in 2017.

More than 5,300 people were forced from their homes, far fewer than in 2017 due to many of the fires being in more remote areas.

WATCH: Coverage of B.C.’s 2018 wildfires on Globalnews.ca

0:30 Trucker captures glowing sky as wildfires rage in northern BC

• Trucker captures glowing sky as wildfires rage in northern BC
• Okanagan Falls wildfire grew to seven hectares very quickly on Friday afternoon
• BC Wildfires: Tale of two wildfires season
• BC Wildfires: Ottawa sending troops to help fight fire
• Crews work to contain wildfire near Merritt
• BC Wildfires: Raw video from Summerland
• Video of Mount Eneas wildfire near Peachland
• BC Wildfire Service plan week-long fuel burn off near Naramata
• Dramatic video shows incredible precision of B.C. wildfire crew battling Shovel Lake fire from the air
• Wildfires rage out of control across British Columbia
• Shovel Lake wildfire evacuees call for more support
• Wildfires continue to rage in Western BC

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But that didn’t make the challenge any easier for wildfire crews who were dealing with more than 50 simultaneous “wildfires of note” — fires large enough or close enough to communities to be of concern — in every corner of the province at one point.

A state of emergency was in place for just over three weeks.

Some of those fires, like 92,000-hectare Shovel Lake wildfire, took weeks to contain and prompted evacuation alerts in large communities like Fort St. James. Others, like the monster Tweesdsmuir Complex fire, grew to more than 300,000 hectares in size.

By the end of the season, the province had spent more than $477 million fighting the fires.

December storm

WATCH: Dramatic escape from collapsed White Rock pier

1:00 Dramatic escape from collapsed White Rock pier

After a few false starts, B.C.’s South Coast finally got the major Pacific storm that meteorologists were forecasting.

Heavy winds slammed the coast on Thursday, Dec. 20, knocking out power to close to 600,000 people — an event that BC Hydro described as “one of the most severe windstorms it has experienced in 20 years.”

The storm toppled trees and damaged numerous homes — and tragically killed one woman sleeping in a tent in Duncan.

WATCH: Coverage of December windstorm on Globalnews.ca

0:38 Tree crashes through bedroom of East Vancouver home

• Tree crashes through bedroom of East Vancouver home
• Windstorm leaves White Rock’s iconic pier in need of major repairs
• Global News exclusive: Man rescued from White Rock pier shares his story
• Cleanup underway in Vancouver after storm downs trees and power lines
• Storm knocks out Nanaimo’s water treatment facility
• Chopper rescue of man off White Rock pier during storm
• Maple Ridge storm damage
• Wind storm causes ferry cancellations, power outages

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It also led to the partial collapse of White Rock’s iconic pier, forcing a helicopter rescue for one man who became trapped.

READ MORE: Man rescued from partially collapsed White Rock pier

BC Hydro crews worked around the clock, but even so, residents of some of the hardest hit areas on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and rural parts of Surrey and the Fraser Valley remained without power four days after the storm hit.

Records tumble

WATCH: The heat is on across B.C.

1:39 The heat is on across B.C.

2018 was another year of weather extremes, illustrated by the list of major weather events above.

But those extremes were demonstrated in another way too — weather records that were either toppled, or nearly so.

The year started hot out of the gate, with the fourth wettest January ever recorded for Vancouver.

That same city got soaked again when more rain fell in the first 15 days of April than normally falls all month.

Things flipped the next month, with a record-setting drought-like May when just 1.6 mm of rain fell on Metro Vancouver. The average monthly total for May is 65 millimetres.

WATCH: The Okanagan prepares for unusually hot weather at this time of year

2:18 The Okanagan prepares for unusually hot weather at this time of year

With summer came a new round of records, this time for heat.

There were heat waves in both June and July, with temperature records toppled around the province.

And there were even records in the fall, when a late burst of summery weather in October set warm temperature records from Dawson Creek to Pitt Meadows.

The following month, an “atmospheric river” dumped plenty of rain on the province, and in its wake came some record-setting balmy (well, for November) temperatures.