Blizzard of 20 cm or more in parts of Metro Vancouver by Wednesday morning

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Wednesday morning will bring “absolute chaos” across much of the southern mainland as a wet low meets the Arctic High, with strong winds and up to 25 cm of snow for 12 hours, the Weather Network said. meteorologist says. .

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Tyler Hamilton has been tracking the storm off the north coast of Vancouver Island and expects it to start bringing clouds to the Lower Mainland early Tuesday afternoon as it moves east. said there is.

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By Tuesday evening, snow will begin to fall as the low pressure system begins to make contact with the Arctic High in the interior of British Columbia. It piles up at a rate of 2-4 cm per hour and continues until around dawn on Wednesday. .

Hamilton said areas south of the Fraser River, such as Delta and White Rock, would not bear the brunt of the shock and would see about 10cm of snow.

However, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, and East Vancouver are likely to see 20-25 cm of snow, and the North Shore mountains can see up to 50 cm of snow. Whistler is also set to get a massive dump.

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“It’s a great setup for high-altitude skiing,” says Hamilton.

“For the Lower Mainland it will be completely chaotic with 60-70km/h winds and snow.”

Temperatures are expected to rise above freezing on Wednesday, creating large amounts of snowmelt that could lead to power outages.

Temperatures will drop again on Thursday, with light rain and light rain expected.

Hamilton predicts another snow event on Friday, which could also be significant.

“It’s not a one-time thing,” he said. “It is likely that we will see some snowfall events this week.”

Heavy snowfall is also expected on high mountain roads in the southern interior of BC, creating dangerous driving conditions.

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Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement warning of snow and freezing rain in the Fraser Valley on Wednesday morning as incoming warm air negates cold outflow.

There was a 20 cm snowfall event in Vancouver on December 20, 2021.

Here are some of our pre-snow preparations.

Public transport

TransLink is calling in additional staff, coordinating with local authorities and preparing special trucks to spray anti-icing solutions on the trolley wires.

It will also replace articulated buses with traditional 40-foot buses to better handle steep and slippery sections of road, and will couple Millennium Line trains into four-car train sets to increase capacity.

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A UBC Snow Shuttle will be installed from Alma Street to UBC.

You can also sign up for Transit Alerts, follow TransLink on Twitter (@TransLink), or call Customer Service at 604.953.3333.

school

School boards throughout Metro Vancouver have varying parameters for what constitutes a snow day. Parents and caregivers can expect to be notified early Wednesday morning if a decision has been made to close for the day. Even the school has staff.

warming center

All major municipalities have warming centers available to the homeless and insecure.

The City of Vancouver has made extra beds available as follows: Posting on TwitterThere are 8 sites available.