Environment Canada said Monday snowfall warnings are in effect for parts of the southern Interior and South Coasts, while the north and central coasts are under arctic outflow and wind warnings due to a low pressure system southwest of Vancouver Island. Meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau said areas under a snowfall warning should expect 10-15 centimeters “The temperature will be below normal for most of British Columbia,” he added. He said the snow was expected to taper off Monday afternoon with the cold snap easing into Wednesday before another system brings back cold air next week. “Indoors, we’re looking at temperatures around -5C overnight and lows around -12C,” he said. In southern BC Interior, Charbonneau said temperatures will be around -5 C overnight with a low around -12 C. (Winston Szeto/CBC) Kamloops and the central Okanagan, which were covered in snow on Sunday, were in for another 15cm on Monday and the weather service issued snowfall warnings of up to 30cm for most interior mountain passes.
Travel tips
Also on Monday, a travel advisory was issued for the Coquihalla Highway between Merritt and Kamloops due to limited visibility with heavy snow and blizzard conditions. “The heaviest rainfall will likely create bands of snow and it could fall quite heavily,” meteorologist Derek Lee told CBC’s On The Island.
Canada Postal Service
Canada Post issued a red alert for Kamloops Monday afternoon, suspending deliveries for the day as “weather conditions due to severe weather and snow have made it unsafe.” A yellow service alert has been issued for the Okanagan-Similkameen region due to weather, meaning Canada Post agents will ” [its] it is best to deliver, but there may be delays.” “Delivery will resume once conditions improve and it is safe to do so. The safety of our employees is our number one priority,” it said in a statement. Snowfall warnings are also in effect for Highway 97 between Maze Lake Road and Williams Lake due to weather. “In Prince George, we’re seeing highs around -14C and eventually dropping to -20C and then gradual warming towards the weekend,” Sarbonneau said. Environment Canada says wind chills will be near -20 C on the Interior and Central Coast due to strong winds and arctic air. (Catherine Hansen/CBC) Environment Canada’s snowfall warning for the Malahat Highway on Vancouver Island says conditions there aren’t likely to ease until early Tuesday, with 10 centimeters of snow expected near the summit.
Strong winds for the coast
Meanwhile, strong winds are battering parts of coastal BC, with gusts of up to 110 km/h along the north and central coasts pushing wind chill factors to -20 C and lower around the North Coast. “We’re going to see some very good outflow winds from Howe Sound and strong outflow winds on the north and central coast,” Charbonneau said. Repair crews have made progress restoring power to hundreds of thousands of British Columbia homes that were blacked out during severe weekend storms. Around noon Monday, more than 1,600 residents were still without power.
