Last week's cool weather was replaced with milder temperatures and strong winds on the weekend.
High winds caused by an intense low-pressure system moving over the province produced a number of power outages in the Comox Valley on Sunday, starting around 4 p.m., BC Hydro said. About 3,500 customers were without power during the peak of the storm between 5 and 6 p.m.
"It's a pretty intense storm," said Ted Olynyk, manager of community relations.
While most storms target an area, this one extended up Island from Oak Bay and Saanich in the southern reaches up to Powell River.
"Our crews did a great job of keeping numbers (of outages) down," Olynyk said, noting about 300 Comox Valley customers were still without power Monday. About 200 of those were on Denman Island, along with some in Cumberland, Comox, Courtenay, Fanny Bay and Black Creek.
BC Ferries cancelled 130 sailings over 12 routes on Sunday. All sailings were cancelled at the Little River terminal due to high winds.
Sunday winds also affected service at Departure Bay in Nanaimo, where 10 sailings were cancelled to Horseshoe Bay and another eight on the Tsawwassen route.
"Normally when we get a storm it will affect one area, but this certainly affected the majority of our northern Gulf Island routes as well as the three major routes between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island," BC Ferries director of media relations Deborah Marshall said.
Courtenay had highs of 7C Monday and 9 Tuesday. Wednesday's high is expected to reach 10. Showers were expected in the early part of the week.
Temperatures will cool Thursday and Friday with highs of 7 and 4 respectively. A mix of sun and cloud is expected.
