People in parts of B.C.'s South Coast woke up to fresh snow, new winter weather warnings and thousands of power outages Monday morning.
Environment Canada issued Arctic outflow warnings before dawn for Howe Sound and much of the Fraser Valley, where frigid temperatures and icy winds are expected to continue until-mid week.
In the meantime, residents of Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Hope have been warned to expect "bitterly cold conditions" and gusting winds of up to 70 km/h.
The winds that whipped through the region overnight also downed trees and branches onto power lines, cutting electricity to more than 10,000 BC Hydro customers and forcing three Abbotsford schools to close for the day.
Crews had managed to restore most of the outages by noon, but about 4,000 people were still waiting for power.
The winter conditions emerged after an unusually mild January, but meteorologist Carmen Hartt said big swings in temperature are not unusual for Lower Mainland winters.
"It's actually quite normal to have quite a bit of variability, just because of our location on the coast," she said. "We do see these cold snaps every winter and warm spells, but I just think it's the contrast from earlier this winter until now that's really shocked people."
Temperatures in Vancouver hit about -3C on Monday, which Hartt said is about 10 degrees below the average for this time of year. In the valley, wind chills of -22C are in the forecast this week.
Environment Canada blamed the conditions on an Arctic ridge of high pressure that recently arrived over the B.C. Interior.
"As soon as February hit, the pattern shifted. We got under this Arctic air mass, and a ridge of high pressure is now dominating, which is bringing this sunny weather but it's also bringing these very cold temperatures," Hartt said.
The weather led to one unfortunate encounter on Vancouver's west side, where a postal carrier was recorded grumbling and cursing after realizing the front steps of a home were dusted with snow.
"Get off your damn ass and come out and do your stairs," he can be heard saying in a surveillance video. "Sitting in the damn house when your f***ing stairs look like s***."
The homeowner said the incident happened around 9 a.m., about an hour before the city's 10 a.m. deadline for people to clear snow from sidewalks surrounding their properties.
Canada Post issued a statement calling the employee's behaviour and language "not acceptable" and promising to follow up with him.
Snow was more of a concern over the weekend, when some 15 vehicles slammed into each other on Highway 1 near Whatcom Road, closing the westbound lanes for hours.
In Horseshoe Bay, a TransLink bus struggled to make it up a hill, and in Vancouver crews spent much of the weekend laying salt and brine.
The City of Vancouver has announced its keeping its warming centres open until at least Wednesday to give homeless people somewhere to go until the cold snap ends.
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With files from CTV Vancouver's Allison Hurst
