The overnight dump of snow had a significant impact Sunday morning around the Lower Mainland.
Highway and road closures dot the DriveBC map for the region with traffic delays due to spun-out or stalled vehicles.
In North Vancouver, some drivers are having an extremely difficult time climbing “the cut,” the steep section of Highway 1 shortly after the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge.
Heading westbound, the right lane is blocked and DriveBC said drivers can expect “major delays.”
In Surrey, some firefighters had quite a scare Sunday morning. Crews were attending a vehicle collision on 104 Avenue near 176 Street when a large semi-truck slammed into the back of a fire truck. According to a Surrey Fire battalion chief, some firefighters had to jump out of the way.
“The roads are pretty bad. Luckily, we only had a couple of minor injuries. One person from one of the vehicles was sent to hospital with minor injuries,” Dave Wyatt said, a Surrey Fire battalion chief. “One firefighter also was sent to hospital with minor injuries.”
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Six vehicles were involved in the pile up, including an ambulance.
Wyatt said people must drive more cautiously and stay off the roads, if possible. Road crews in the Lower Mainland have been preparing for snowfall all week.
“Our advice to residents is to only take the essential trips,” said Eric Mital, City of Vancouver’s director of streets. “We focus our treatments on major roads, sidewalks, bus routes, bridges and routes to schools and hospitals.”
Snowfall warnings were issued for the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Fraser Canyon, Howe Sound, Squamish and Whistler regions on Saturday and persist into Sunday.
In Metro Vancouver, five to 10 cm of snow is expected Saturday night and Sunday.
In Fraser Valley, 10 to 20 cm of snowfall is expected.
“An arctic front will bring snow and strong outflow winds to the region tonight and Sunday,” Environment Canada said in the warning.
“Some light snow has started over the east Fraser Valley, but is expected to become heavy at times after midnight as an arctic front begins to push into the south coast from the interior. As the front continues to push west, the heavy snow will spread into the west Fraser Valley by very early Sunday morning and into all Metro Vancouver regions by mid to late Sunday morning.”
Abbotsford and Chilliwack are included in the new snowfall warning, and areas in Eastern Fraser Valley have had their snowfall warning continued.
In Fraser Canyon, snow up to 15 cm is expected for Sunday morning.
“For southern sections of the Fraser Canyon, light snow has intensified Saturday afternoon. Total snowfall amounts near 10 up to 15 cm are expected over areas south of Lytton by early Sunday morning. Areas north of and including Lytton will receive five to 10 cm of snow,” Environment Canada said.
In the Howe Sound region, the snowfall warning has forecast 15 to 20 cm for the area.
“In addition to the snowfall amounts, we are expecting the strong northerly outflow winds to be 30 gusting to 50 km/h and up to 80 over southern sections of Howe Sound,” Environment Canada said.
“Winds will continue to be strong into the beginning of next week.”
In the Squamish and Whistler Sea to Sky Highway region, Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for “potentially challenging travel conditions.”
“(Saturday night) through Sunday, an arctic front from the B.C. Interior will move into the Whistler and Sea to Sky region and bring periods of moderate snow starting overnight,” said Environment Canada.
Drivers are also urged to check DriveBC for any updates or alerts for roads in their areas.
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