VANCOUVER — A bitter cold spell sweeping over coastal and northern British Columbia has brought snow and wind chills around minus 50.
Environment Canada has issued extreme-cold or arctic-outflow warnings for numerous areas in the province, with wind chill forecast to drop to minus 45 in the north and minus 25 on the coast.
The forecaster's weather summary says the wind chill in Dease Lake in B.C.'s northern Interior reached minus 51 on Monday morning, before warming up to minus 46 a few hours later.
Snowfall accumulations on Sunday through to Monday morning varied across Metro Vancouver, from 24 centimetres in West Vancouver to just three at the Vancouver airport, while around B.C., Tofino picked up 16 centimetres and Squamish logged 22 centimetres.
The snow and treacherous road conditions have forced several school districts in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley to close on Monday along with university campuses, such as University of B.C., the B.C. Institute of Technology and the University of the Fraser Valley.
Environment Canada says an arctic air mass is bringing very strong outflow winds through to Wednesday and possibly later for inland regions.
Snowfall warnings remain up for parts of eastern and western Vancouver Island, the Southern Gulf Islands, Greater Victoria and the Sunshine Coast, forecasting snowsqualls and anywhere from an additional five to 20 centimetres of snow.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2025.
The Canadian Press
