B.C. weather: Warnings issued for storms, snow, wind and rainfall this weekend

Environment Canada has upgraded several of its weather watches and statements to warnings for parts of B.C. this weekend.

The federal department has put snowfall and winter storm warnings in place for virtually all of the northern region apart from the coastline.

The Peace River region is under an extreme cold warning for Friday morning, although temperatures close to -35 C with a wind chill of -40 C are expected to abate by the afternoon.

The North and Central Coast inland sections can expect a wind chill near -20 C on Friday, heavy winds, and 20 to 40 centimetres of snowfall through Saturday.

Ten to 20 centimetres is also forecast for the Interior, with light snow beginning overnight on Friday and becoming heavy on Saturday.

Communities closer to the Cariboo Mountains could see a heavier dump of up to 30 centimetres.

1:56 Heavy, wet snowfall across much of Lower Mainland

Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Sunshine Coast, meanwhile, can expect about 10 centimetres of accumulation on higher terrain and closer to two centimetres near sea level.

Warmer air on Saturday could turn the higher-terrain snowfall into rain on Saturday morning.

A winter storm warning is in effect for Whistler and neighbouring communities, with 25 to 35 centimetres of snow in the forecast. The snow may turn into rain or taper off into flurries on Saturday.

Vancouver Island is under three different kinds of weather warnings: wind, rain and snow.

The wind warning is in effect for the northern area with gusts of up to 110 kilometres per hour expected. Such winds could toss loose objects or break tree branches overnight before easing Saturday morning.

The western part of the island is under a rainfall warning. Nearly 100 millimetres are predicted to fall by Saturday afternoon. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible, Environment Canada said, as the ground “already near saturation” has little ability to absorb more water.

Residents of eastern Vancouver Island can expect about 10 centimetres of snow overnight Friday, with conditions similar to Metro Vancouver.