Snowfall warning issued for Greater Victoria, UVic classes cancelled

A snowfall warning was issued for Greater Victoria on Thursday, forecast to bring up to 10 centimetres to the capital city.

A Pacific low-pressure system combined with cold outflow winds struck the region. Environment Canada said a risk of freezing rain follows, as well as the possibility of now turning into rain overnight.

“We were expecting this but maybe not quite as dramatic … it’s early, so it’s a little bit stronger, it’s kind of creeping down south on the island,” Armel Castellan, Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist, told Global News.

“It’s really the headache of emerging out of all of that cold air we’ve had. You’ve got to go through some transitions and this is sort of the second transition … and it’s not just snowfall. We are also dealing with a very real risk of freezing rain.”

The University of Victoria closed its campus at 1 p.m. due to the hazardous conditions.

“Thank God,” said student Maya Grant of the class cancellation. “They should have closed earlier — really unsafe, with the buses, and all of this — not salted.”

“I feel like probably should have cancelled it earlier, before I got on the bus this morning,” added another student, Sarah White. “The bus was fine, but walking to the bus, I was like, this is slippery.”

1:48 Snowfall closes some schools on Vancouver Island

The Greater Victoria School District said its schools remained open Thursday with buses still running.

Others enjoyed the blustery conditions, playing ice and ball hockey outdoors amid the snowfall during Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada festivities, slated to run between Thursday and Saturday.

Clint Flood, event operations director for the Victoria Legacy Hockey Society, said the storm has posed some challenges, including keeping the rinks clear of powder.

“One is just keeping the tents, making sure the snow doesn’t collapse the tents,” he added. “Part of the challenge is I think people just getting down here with the streets, but we’re still operational.”

Wednesday’s storm brought 19 centimetres of snow to Victoria, 19 to Port Alberni, and 17 to Nanaimo. North Cowichan saw 18 centimetres of snow, while Malahat saw 16 and Comox got nine.

— with files from Kylie Stanton and Elizabeth McSheffrey