Atmospheric river pushes up water levels in southern B.C., prompting flood warnings

By Canadian Press on December 10, 2025.

VANCOUVER — As the rain pummeled the Fraser Valley on Wednesday, poultry farmer Corry Spitters and his family started to calculate their possible losses with the vivid memory of the devastation from flooding from four years ago.

An atmospheric river is washing over southern B.C. with a warning of up to 110 centimetres of rain in the forecast before it pushes out, and the B.C. River Forecast Centre is warning that there’s possible spillover from the Nooksack River in Washington state. The same scenario as November 2021 when flooding and overflowing rivers caused billions in damage.

“We’re just going through what our liabilities are if things get any worse,” said Spitters, whose Oranya Farm lost 200,000 chickens during the catastrophic flooding in 2021.

“One of our neighbours right now has got a full crew out there harvesting Brussels sprouts, because they’ve got to salvage what they can because it’s probably going to be underwater by tomorrow.”

The comments reflect the unease in the Fraser Valley community as B.C.’s River Forecast Centre issued a flood warning Wednesday for the Lower Fraser and Skagit basin in the province’s southwest, including the entirety of the Fraser Valley and most of Metro Vancouver.

“Rivers are expected to rise through Wednesday in response to heavy rain and snowmelt, with peak levels forecasted later Wednesday, and into Thursday for larger river systems,” the centre’s flood warning said.

“Heavier rainfall south of the border may lead to flooding along the Nooksack River, with a potential for spilling into the Sumas River,” it continued. “The highest river levels are currently expected around the Fraser Valley, including the Chilliwack River and surrounding areas.”

The City of Abbotsford said in a statement that it has established an emergency operations centre in response to the flood warning, adding that a number of roads along the U.S. border will likely be flooded if the Nooksack River overflows.

It said the water has historically taken around seven hours to reach the city, and the municipality was closely monitoring all key locations and dikes, with staff posted full time at the Barrowtown pumpstation in anticipation of possible flooding.

“We are preparing to close roads at low spots later today,” the city’s statement said on Wednesday.

The warning from the city said that while the current forecast is for water levels below the 2021 flood, similar levels of water are being considered as a “possible scenario” if rainfall amounts are at the higher end of the current forecast.

Environment Canada said the heaviest rainfall is forecast for the eastern Fraser Valley, from Chilliwack east along the Highway 3 corridor to Princeton.

Metro Vancouver, excluding Richmond and Delta, was also under a warning Wednesday with rainfall likely to reach as much as 70 millimetres.

Spitters said he is expecting “moderate flooding” at his farm, which means water could reach everything below the crest of the road, but not the catastrophic flooding that happened of 2021.

He said there’s little property owners can do in the face of possible flooding, and he is concerned that the same dike and infrastructure that failed in 2021 could fail again if a similar amount of water comes into the system.

“We’re just sitting here wondering what’s next,” Spitters said.

“I’m watching the Sumas River right now. It is still well within its banks … Yeah, it’s definitely a concern, no question about it.”

The B.C. government has issued a notice urging people living near rivers and streams in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Hope to prepare emergency kits, move assets to higher ground and closely monitor the situation.

The flood warnings are an upgrade to a previous flood watch in the area, after much of B.C.’s south coast and parts of the southern Interior were put under rain warnings.

The warnings on Wednesday also covered western Vancouver Island, Howe Sound, parts of the Sunshine Coast, the Sea to Sky Highway, the Coquihalla Highway, Fraser Canyon, the Kootenays and Elk Valley near the Alberta boundary.

Travel was expected to be hampered on Highway 1 from Sicamous to Golden, as well as in Yoho and Kootenay national parks, as the same weather system is bringing up to 40 centimetres of snow to those areas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2025.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press