Environment Canada has issued snowfall warnings and special weather statements for parts of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, as temperatures continue to drop over the weekend.
Between two and 10 centimetres is forecast for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Sunshine Coast and Howe Sound on Sunday night, becoming rain mixed with wet snow by noon on Monday.
Inland communities on Vancouver Island could see a heavier dump — between 15 and 20 centimetres by Monday afternoon — as a strong frontal system makes its way through the region.
A maximum of 15 centimetres is expected for the west, east and north parts of the island, along with the portion of the Malahat Highway between Goldstream and Mill Bay.
“Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions,” Environment Canada warns on its website.
“Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas.”
The provincial government and municipalities are preparing for the weather.
The City of Vancouver says it has more than 100 vehicles and equipment units, hundreds of staff and 3,000 tonnes of salt ready to deploy when needed. Major roads, bridges and bus routes will be prioritized, along with any roads adjacent to hospitals.
It has also opened up a warming station at the Powell Street Getaway Resource Centre in the Downtown Eastside, and released a list of shelters that will have extra spaces between Dec. 5 and 6.
TransLink said it had also activated its winter weather plan, which includes calling in extra staff to help commuters. The transit agency is coupling Millennium Line trains into four-car configurations to boost capacity, and deploying trucks to apply de-icing solution on bus trolley lines.
Crews are already brining the streets in Surrey, B.C., and the city is reminding residents to scrape their windshield and keep extra distance between vehicles as roads become slippery.
On Friday, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation said it had mobilized contractors to apply de-icing brine and have plows on standby, if necessary.
It said it was also preparing the “cable collar” system used to remove ice and snow from the Port Mann and Alex Fraser bridges — the source of so-called “ice bombs” that have become an increasingly expensive ICBC liability in recent years.
—With files from Simon Little