At least one person has died and motorists hitting the roads for the Christmas holiday were facing closures on multiple major routes from the Lower Mainland Friday, as winter weather pummels the highways of B.C.’s Southern Interior.
An atmospheric river arrived in the southern part of the province late Thursday, and is expected to stay in place through Saturday.
The BC Coroners Service says it was deployed mid afternoon to Highway 3 near the Paulson Bridge in the Kootenays, where a woman in her 30s died on Thursday.
The Coquihalla Highway was closed northbound between Hope and Merritt for most of the morning and early afternoon, reopening around 2 p.m., amid heavy snowfall and limited visibility. The route was also closed for several hours overnight.
The same stretch of highway was also closed southbound, but those lanes were also reopened around 7 p.m.
By Friday morning, Environment Canada said a whopping 72 centimetres of snow had already fallen on the highway.
Just after 4 p.m., BC Transportation said 91 centimetres had fallen since the start of the storm.
“It’s very slick. Very slick, I wouldn’t recommend it at all,” said tow truck driver Darren Walton.
“People aren’t slowing down, but it is what it is. Avoid it. Drive tomorrow. And if you are going to drive, drive slow and pay attention.”
Highway 3 was also closed in both directions Friday morning between the Sunshine Valley east of Hope and Frontage Road.
The highway was later fully closed between Allison Pass and Manning Park Resort due to a vehicle incident.
Highway 1 was also briefly closed in both directions due to a rockslide just south of Boston Bar.
You can see updated closures and incidents on B.C. highways at DriveBC.
The closures came amid Environment Canada winter storm warnings for the Coquihalla between Hope and Merritt, Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton and at the Paulson Summit, the Okanagan Connector between Merritt and Kelowna and Highway 1 from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass.
Environment Canada warned that those routes could see between 30 and 60 centimetres of snow by Saturday afternoon. DriveBC is warning of 70-80 centimetres of additional snow on the Coquihalla.
Drivers are being warned to expect difficult road conditions and poor and rapidly changing visibility.
The Ministry of Transportation issued a travel advisory Thursday, and is reminding drivers that they are not permitted to try and tackle mountain highways without proper winter tires.
“Travellers are advised to bring warm winter clothing in case they need to get out of their vehicles, ensure they have a full tank of gas and carry an emergency kit,” said the ministry.
ICBC spokesperson Joanna Linsangan says it’s difficult to be over prepared.
“That means topping up your fluids, because your windshield will get dirty from all the snow and salt, and in addition having extra clothing blankets, a shovel, ice scraper, snow shovel, sand and snow chains as well,” she said.
Drivers are also being reminded to plan ahead and expect delays due to weather, traffic and possible avalanche control.
Highway 1 is scheduled for closure between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for avalanche work between Revelstoke and Golden.
As of Friday morning there were also 15 snowfall warnings in place across Southern B.C.
Affected regions include Whistler, the Fraser Canyon, Kootenay Lake, the North and West Columbia, the Shuswap, the Similkameen and the West Kootenay.
Forecast snowfall amounts varied from two to five centimetres in the Whistler area to as much as 30 to 40 centimetres in the Columbia regions.
Snow was forecast to shift to showers or rain in lower lying areas Friday.
You can see an up to date breakdown of Environment Canada warnings and weather alerts here.
Avalanche Canada has also raised its avalanche danger rating to “high” for much of the province, warning the atmospheric river will cause “widespread avalanche activity” throughout the South Coast.
Meanwhile, a rainfall warning remains up for the central and eastern Fraser Valley, with up to 40 millimetres of rain expected by the end of Friday.