B.C. Ferries has cancelled some sailings Thursday, citing adverse weather conditions in the Strait of Georgia.
The 7 a.m. sailing of the Spirit of Vancouver Island departing Swartz Bay in North Saanich and the 9 a.m. sailing departing Tsawwassen in Vancouver are cancelled, says B.C. Ferries in a service notice.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is of primary importance to us,” the notice says. “We will continue to monitor this weather system and share further information as it becomes available.”
B.C. Ferries says it will contact customers with bookings on these cancelled sailings to let them know if it has space on an alternate sailing later in the day.
In addition, B.C. Ferries says the Coastal Inspiration departed 31 minutes late for the 7 a.m. sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay due to the same adverse weather conditions and the time it took to load the vessel “given today’s heavy volume of traffic.”
Despite the delay, those on the return sailing should arrive during the recommended check-in window in order to maintain their reservation status, B.C. Ferries said. “This ensures we can stage your vehicle at the terminal ahead of standby customers and those reserved on later sailing.”
As of 9 a.m., B.C. Ferries was selling tickets for the 1 p.m. sailings in both directions on the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen route.
Environment Canada issued a pair of weather alerts Thursday morning, including the chance of “significant snowfall” from the afternoon through Friday for the Malahat and east Vancouver Island from Duncan to Fanny Bay.
“The band of snow is expected to move north and stall over the Nanaimo area tonight, and could continue over the Fanny Bay area on Friday,” Environment Canada said in a statement.
An arctic outflow warning has been issued for Greater Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands, along with much of the mainland of B.C., for Thursday night through Saturday.
The overnight low is expected to drop to about –9 C — with the wind chill it will feel like –20 C — and there’s a risk of frostbite and hypothermia.
The cold temperatures could continue for several days, said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan, adding that the region is in for “a thermal shock” after a record-mild December.
“We’re going to see temperatures five to 10 degrees colder than normal,” he said. “We typically are down to around 1 C around this time of year.”
The cold snap comes on the heels of a wind and rain storm that hit Vancouver Island on Tuesday. Thousands lost power, but no serious damage was reported.
— With a file from Jeff Bell
