Travelling to or through B.C.’s Southern Interior this weekend? Prepare for snow.
Environment Canada issued several weather alerts for the southern half of the province, ranging from the Fraser Valley to the West Kootenays. And all of them involve snowfall along high mountain passes on Saturday.
The largest snowfall amounts are predicted for the Coquihalla Highway, from Hope to Merritt, and Highway 3, from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass. Environment Canada is predicting between 15 and 25 centimetres for those areas.
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“A Pacific frontal system will move across southern B.C. on Saturday,” the national weather service said Friday. “Snow will develop over the highway passes beginning early in the morning.
“Initially, snow levels will be near 800 metres and gradually rise to 1,200 metres that afternoon.”
Environment Canada added that “near the Coquihalla Summit and the Kootenay Pass, 10 to 15 cm of snow can be expected by Saturday afternoon. Additional amounts of 5 to 10 cm are possible Saturday night as convective flurries develop in the wake of the front.”
Snowfall over other southern B.C. highway passes are expected to be less intense, with total amounts closer to 5 cm.
Regions with special weather alerts include the Fraser Valley, the Fraser Canyon, South Thompson, Nicola, Similkameen, Okanagan, Shuswap, Boundary, West Kootenay, Kootenay Lake plus the West and East Columbias.
For more about the weather alerts, click here.