Environment Canada

Lower Mainland struck by record-breaking atmospheric river

By: Hailey Miller, Staff Writer Content warning: descriptions of death by natural disaster. On the weekend of October 19–20, a “major atmospheric river” made its way across the Lower Mainland, breaking a number of rainfall records. Some areas “saw a month’s worth of rain in just 48 hours.” From fallen trees and flooded streets to “tens of thousands” of households facing power outages, the atmospheric river caused severe damage throughout the weekend. An atmospheric river is a “long, narrow band of concentrated water vapour in the sky.” They “are typically 800 kilometres wide and 1,000 kilometres long,” lasting for days…

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