Don’t put away your winter jacket just yet: British Columbia is in for yet another cold spell this week.
Global BC meteorologist Mark Madryga says after a brief period of relatively mild air in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island over the weekend and Monday, the outlook is for a return to much colder weather in the coming days.
Madryga says Arctic air will again pour out of the B.C. Interior and onto the coast on Tuesday.
“Temperatures will fall below freezing Monday night in the Lower Mainland, leading to icy conditions once again,” Madryga said. “As the main push of colder air kicks in during Tuesday and into Wednesday, residents of the Fraser Valley and those near Howe Sound will experience significant windchill due to the significant northeasterly Arctic winds, which will also create blowing and drifting snow in many areas.”
The cold stretch will continue province-wide all week, with temperatures falling to as low as -9 C in the Lower Mainland, -28 C in the Central Interior and -18 C in the Southern Interior.
Freezing temperatures in December and earlier this month contributed to icy road conditions around Metro Vancouver and made some sidewalks completely unusable. The cold snap also led to overwhelming demand for shelter space as some of the region’s most vulnerable people sought refuge. Community centres throughout Vancouver stayed open overnight during this cold snap so people could come and escape from the cold.
Some warming centres were left open in Vancouver Sunday night.
The City of Vancouver says the opening of the warming centres is triggered by the activation of the Province’s Extreme Weather Response Shelter program; and as soon as it’s activated, the city’s warming centres will remain open to provide support.