British Columbians are bracing for some cold temperatures this weekend, just one week after balmy temperatures sent almost everyone outside in droves.
Cold arctic air is pushing those spring temperatures away, and sending current temperatures plummeting, in what is technically the spring season.
The interior region of the province is starting up its salting and sanding machines to hit the roads.
"We keep half a dozen ready to go for winter for situations exactly like this," said Ted Smart, a Coquihalla Highway maintenance worker.
CTV Meteorologist Jesse Mason says these cold temperatures haven't been seen in decades.
"The folks from Environment Canada went back to their record books and said we haven't seen conditions like this since the mid-fifties," he said.
Mason says the temperatures are more fitting for December or January.
"We should be crawling up into the upper teens," he said. "But here we are, sitting at half the seasonal average, pushing into May already."
Canada AM weather anchor Rena Heer said Vancouver, Victoria and parts of the Fraser Valley saw snow on Friday, and on Saturday there is a 60 per cent chance of more snow in Vancouver, followed by a 40 per cent chance on Sunday.
Two major Lower Mainland events this weekend -- the Vaisakhi parade through Vancouver's Little India, and the Vancouver Sun Run, which is expected to draw more than 55,000 people -- will be privy to the elements.
"Obviously people are concerned about the weather because there was talk of flurries overnight probably in the higher elevations," said Jamie Pitblado, a Sun Run participant.
"It will mean a cold morning with highs of two or three when people get up and start thinking about race time. We're asking people to dress in layers, be smart about what you put on, so you can take things off as your body heats up."
In Victoria, farmer Derek Scott said he was not impressed with the weather -- though he didn't think it would deliver a fatal blow to his crops.
"What do you mean what do I think about it, I hate it, this is setting us way back," Scott told CTV B.C.'s Jim Beatty.
"We're going to be two weeks late picking strawberries. We just planted them in the ground and they're not moving, nothing is moving."
Scott said the cold weather has even stopped bees from pollinating -- a vital step in the peach-growing process.
He joked that he has a plow ready to go in the event of a big snowfall.
"There's an income right there -- farmer turned snow-plower in April," Scott said.
With reports from CTV British Columbia's St.John Alexander, David Kincaid and Jim Beatty
