Winter Storm Warning For Eastern Vancouver Island

Issued at 4:29 p.m. PST Friday 2 January 2015

The first major winter storm of 2015 is set to deliver a wintery mix to the BC Coast on the weekend. An arctic airmass over the Yukon will build southward into the BC Interior by Saturday morning and arctic outflow winds will increase over the North and Central Coasts. Meanwhile, a warm front spreading moisture off the Pacific will result in light snow developing as well. Wintery weather with a mix of rain and snow will spread across Inland and East Vancouver Island during Saturday night and across the rest of the South Coast during Sunday morning. Snowfall amounts will be greatest over higher terrain and into the inland areas where 10 to 20 cm is possible. Depending on timing of the arrival of this system there could be significant snowfall amounts at sea level as well. Warm air will invade in the upper levels ahead of this Pacific front and freezing rain is a possibility as the arctic air is pushed back into the interior. All areas should see temperatures moderate enough during Monday morning that any snow should turn to rain. Stay tuned for further weather updates and likely warnings as the system evolves over the weekend.

Details


Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations. Winter Storm Watches are issued when multiple types of severe winter weather are expected to occur together. Environment Canada meteorologists will update alerts as required. Please monitor local media or Weatheradio. Email reports of severe weather to pacificstorm@ec.gc.ca or tweet with the hashtag #BCStorm.