Thunderstorms boomed across Metro Vancouver in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Locals shared videos of lightning flashing in the sky in various areas across the region for over two hours from just before 3 a.m. to around 5 a.m.
Environment Canada meteorologist Ken Dosanjh said a system from the Yukon was responsible for moderate precipitation and the stormy local weather.
"It had most activity over the Sunshine Coast where there was 60 mm of precipitation, and as it continued there were embedded thunderstorms in and around Metro Vancouver," he told V.I.A.
The system slid south into the early morning and a risk of thunderstorms persisted. Lightning activity has dissipated over the mainland but some strikes have been recently observed over the Strait of Georgia.
The threat of thunderstorms should end for the Lower Mainland later this afternoon but showers are expected to continue.
Locals share videos of stormy Metro Vancouver weather
A Cloverdale resident wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that they heard "loud and long thunder" that "sounded like a garbage bin rolling down a hill."
Someone in Burnaby observed thunder and lightning and said the rain was coming down so hard it looked "like fog."
Local weather enthusiast Ryan Voutilainen shared numerous videos in the middle of the night of the thunderstorm, including perspectives from the heart of Downtown Vancouver.
He also shared maps of lightning strikes, enthusiastically captioning that the "North Shore is lit."
While he struggled to get the lightning strikes on film, his recordings show the sky brightening into pale purple and blue hues as thunder booms over Vancouver's tall buildings.
Another local, Justin Long, also shared a series of videos on the social media platform.
Environment Canada doesn't have a clear indication of what the fall might look like in Metro Vancouver but anticipates having more information next week.
Stay up-to-date with hyperlocal forecasts across 50 neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland with V.I.A.'s Weatherhood.
