Code yellow: Wild wind returns to Greater Victoria, east Island to Cowichan
Published 7:05 am Thursday, December 18, 2025
Winds are expected to rise behind an approaching low-pressure system crossing the coast in the afternoon. The strong southerly winds anticipated at 50 km/h could gust to 90 in the early evening. The winds are expected to gradually ease by late evening.
The yellow wind warning is part of Environment Canada’s colour-coded advisory system rolled out at the end of November, just in time for some wild late-fall weather.
Yellow is the most common and indicates hazardous weather may cause moderate, localized or short-term damage, disruption or health impacts. It’s an indicator people should be aware of the conditions, meteorologist Brian Proctor told the Victoria News.
“If you have to be out and about, take more time, expect more issues with this kind of weather,” he said.
The graduated system is a blend of significance and confidence in those conditions – the hotter the colour, the more likely it’s accurate and more extreme, widespread or prolonged damage is expected.
Orange indicates severe weather likely to cause significant and major or widespread damage
Red indicates dangers and potentially life-threatening weather causing extreme widespread or prolonged damage. Environment Canada says red alerts are rare.
The latest winds come even as BC Hydro continues to repair extensive damage caused by the previous few days’ worth of winds.
As of Wednesday evening, more than 105,000 customers had their service restored – or about 88 per cent of the more than 120,000 impacted customers in the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
About 15,000 customers remained without power in the Lower Mainland.
