Christina Lepore was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of crashing trees and howling winds.
asserted
Lepore → awake → trees
The second of three major storms had blown in off the Pacific Ocean, crashing ashore over her small town of Zeballos, on Vancouver Island’s remote northwestern coast.
asserted
second → blow → coast
“Around 3 o’clock in the morning, we heard quite loud noises.
asserted
we → hear → noises
And when I went to look outside, we were surrounded by water,” Ms. Lepore said.
asserted
Lepore → go → water
The winds were strong enough to have blown the window out of her pick-up truck’s rear canopy, and that of her neighbour’s as well, she said.
asserted
she → blow → neighbour
Trees came down, knocking out power and blocking a creek, she said, leading to a flood.
asserted
she → come → flood
“There’s still pieces of siding and roofs scattered about,” said Ms. Lepore, who runs the small town’s convenience store.
asserted
who → ’ → store
The Village of Zeballos ordered the evacuation of 22 properties Friday owing to landslide risks that it said posed a threat to life and safety.
asserted
it → order → life
Parts of that order were downgraded to an evacuation alert Monday, but a statement from the regional district said residents should expect some restrictions to remain in place for the remainder of the week.
asserted
restrictions → downgrade → week
Elsewhere the wild weather wreaked havoc across southwestern British Columbia.
asserted
weather → wreak → Columbia
The storm was linked to two deaths in Metro Vancouver.
asserted
storm → link → Vancouver
On Friday, the driver of a sedan struck a 78-year-old woman who was attempting to cross the street during heavy rain, according to Vancouver Police.
uncertain
who → strike → Police
On Saturday, a driver was killed when a falling tree struck two vehicles in Surrey, B.C.
asserted
tree → kill → Surrey
A canoeist has been missing in stormy waters off northern Vancouver Island since Friday.
asserted
canoeist → miss → Friday
According to BC Hydro, nearly 415,000 customers experienced power outages since Friday.
uncertain
customers → accord → Friday
Outages in hard-hit rural areas around Prince George are expected to last several days, with the earliest restoration expected by late Tuesday, the utility said.
asserted
utility → hit → Tuesday
Access has made some repairs more difficult.
asserted
repairs → make → ?
By late Monday afternoon, about 13,300 customers remained without power.
asserted
customers → remain → power
On Monday afternoon, forecasters escalated rainfall warnings in southwest British Columbia, saying some areas could receive a deluge topping 250 millimetres in a new parade of storms that is set to drench the region.
uncertain
that → escalate → region
Orange warnings have been raised for west and central Vancouver Island, Howe Sound and the Sea to Sky region, with Environment Canada warning of flooding and landslides after the “very robust” frontal system makes landfall Tuesday morning.
asserted
system → raise → landfall
The province’s River Forecast Centre has also issued a flood watch for much of southwest B.C.
“The heaviest rain is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, with lingering rainfall continuing through the rest of the week,” the centre said on Monday.
asserted
centre → issue → Monday
Residents are being asked to stay away from riverbanks of fast-moving water and to never cross flooded roads or bridges.
asserted
Residents → ask → roads
Communities have begun preparing for the coming storms, with the City of Vancouver opening additional shelter spaces on Monday and Tuesday.
asserted
City → begin → Monday
“This rainfall event comes on the heels of several low-pressure systems that have moved through the region in recent days, already bringing substantial amounts of precipitation to parts of the coast,” Environment Canada said.
asserted
Canada → come → coast
Meanwhile other parts of Canada have seen unseasonable weather of a different sort.
asserted
parts → see → sort
Rhythm Reet, a meteorologist at the Weather Network, said Canada is experiencing what’s called an “omega block,” a weather pattern characterized by a high-pressure ridge sandwiched between two low-pressure troughs, to resemble the Greek letter.
asserted
what → say → letter
Over the next 10 days, the Pacific storms will bring warm winds across the Rocky Mountains and push temperatures in Alberta and Saskatchewan up between seven and 10 degrees above seasonal, Ms. Reet said.
asserted
Reet → bring → seasonal
But the most significant temperature anomalies are expected in Yukon and the Northwest Territories, extending into a portion of Nunavut, where a ridge of high pressure will drive temperatures up 10 to 15 degrees above the seasonal average.
“To put numbers to that: Yellowknife, this Thursday, Nov. 12, the average daytime high is around -7 C, and the low around -15 C,” Ms. Reet said.
asserted
Reet → expect → that
“Our forecast is indicating that it’s going to be 3 C as a high for Yellowknife, and the low is going to be -1 C.”
asserted
low → indicate → Yellowknife
Ms. Reet said she couldn’t comment on the possible connection between recent weather and climate change but she did say that it has been somewhat influenced by the growing El Nino pattern, which is gathering strength in the Pacific Ocean.
asserted
which → say → Ocean
“The general pattern we end up seeing in the winter as well is the fact that the jet stream is further toward the north, allowing for this ridging pattern to hold steady toward Western Canada,” she said.
asserted
she → end → Canada
A study published in August suggests that El Nino patterns are getting stronger because of climate change.
uncertain
patterns → publish → change
El Ninos are more than 36 per cent stronger than they were before the industrial age began in the mid-1800s, with a 16-per-cent jump in just the last 40 years showing that the increase is accelerating, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science.
uncertain
increase → begin → journal
The Aporia
