Metro Vancouver storm leads to traffic delays, school closures

A deep freeze that hit Metro Vancouver overnight led to a messy morning commute on Monday.

Global BC’s chief meteorologist Mark Madryga says an Arctic front raced through the Fraser Valley and reached Metro Vancouver Sunday night with about 5 to 22 centimetres of snow falling in some areas.

“Our temperatures will stay below freezing day and night in Metro Vancouver, at least through Wednesday, possibly Thursday; wind chills from -13 C to -20 C in the Lower Mainland over the next couple of days,” he said.

A jack-knifed semi has closed Highway 1 eastbound from 248 Street to 264 Street. This comes after the highway was shut down between Hope and Chilliwack for hours on Sunday due to several accidents.

WATCH: Metro Vancouver snow

2:01 First cold snap of 2020 sets into Metro Vancouver

• First cold snap of 2020 sets into Metro Vancouver
• Sunday storm on South Coast
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The Coquihalla Highway is open despite being hammered by snow Sunday, leading to a number of closures due to accidents.

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The deep freeze has led to slick roads. Last night numerous cars were abandoned on hills, a number of buses couldn’t make their routes, and there were closures on the Lions Gate and Port Mann bridges.

City crews have been ploughing and salting roads all night, but in some municipalities, they are concentrating on the major routes so side streets are not yet clear.

The City of Vancouver said it would not do green box pickups this week to allow crews to focus on snow removal.

A number of schools were closed on Monday due to weather. Here is a full list of school closures.

TransLink has asked bus and SkyTrain passengers to build in extra time for their commutes.

Late Monday the agency said it would only be operating its HandyDART service at essential service levels due to icy road conditions.

0:56 Vehicles struggle to make it up streets, hills in Vancouver during winter storm

One person was seriously hurt and BC Ferries was forced to alter its schedule after a multi-vehicle crash on the causeway to the Tsawwassen terminal.

BC Hydro is reporting 750 customers are without power on the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast.

Environment Canada said “a series of disturbances” could bring more snow to B.C.’s south coast this week.

A weak system will approach the area from the northwest on Monday night.

3:29 Winter weather wreaks havoc on Lower Mainland commute

“Northwesterly winds are expected to develop over the Strait of Georgia overnight and where these winds converge with strong outflows from mainland coastal inlets, locally heavier areas of snow are likely to develop,” Environment Canada said in a special weather statement.

A second system expected to hit the south coast on Tuesday could bring snow for much of the night.

The region could be hit with a “glancing blow” from a third system on Thursday but “Vancouver Island may see a considerable amount of snow as outflow winds increase with the passage of this system.”

While Metro Vancouver grapples with snowy weather, it’s brutally cold in the Interior.

“It looks like this cold snap in the B.C. interior will not be long lived, but it will be brutal for the next three days or so and then temperatures slowly modify later in the week,” Madryga said.