A serious shift in weather is expected Friday as temperatures plunge and, in some parts of the province, snow is forecast, according to Environment Canada.
“As a colder airmass arrives with a Pacific weather system on Friday, periods of snow will likely give some accumulations from Friday afternoon to Saturday over the elevated highway passes,” the national weather agency said in a special weather statement issued Thursday.
Covered by the alert are Highway 3, from Hope to Princeton and Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass; the Coquihalla Highway, from Hope to Merritt and then Merritt to Kamloops; the Okanagan Connector from Merritt to Kelowna; and, finally, the Trans Canada, from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass.
The shift into autumn weather has been a long time coming with an unusually warm fall breaking temperature records day after day, according to Environment Canada.
That said, winter tires have been required on most B.C. routes since Oct. 1 and will remain so until April 30.
The province recommends that drivers install mountain-snowflake tires for cold-weather driving, and, for extreme conditions, to carry chains. All-weather tires also bear the mountain snowflake, but don’t perform as well as winter tires.
It also notes that chains on summer tires are not an acceptable substitute for winter tires on signed B.C. highways.
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