'June-uary has arrived': Snow falls on Interior highway passes

After a month of hot, dry weather, travellers on highway passes in B.C.’s southern Interior were in for a surprise Sunday morning, as snow fell in high elevations.

Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a special weather statement Saturday warning of a mix of rain and snow creating slippery conditions on mountain roads. The alert applied to the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Kamloops; Highway 3 from Hope to Penticton via Allison Pass and the Okanagan Connector from Merritt to Kelowna.

“June-uary has arrived,” Lisa Ervin, a meteorologist with ECCC told CTV News. She explained that a cold air mass in the province is bringing temperatures five to 10 degrees lower than normal in some communities, along with lower freezing levels resulting in fresh snow on mountains.

The Pennask Summit of the Okanagan Connector-- one of the highest mountain passes in the province -- saw some snow overnight and Sunday morning, and up to five centimetres is expected before Tuesday, according to the weather agency.

Ervin said the snow will mostly accumulate on the side of the road, while the highway itself will be slushy, creating slippery or challenging driving conditions.

Mountains in the southwest, like in Squamish and Whistler, also experienced a dusting of snow Sunday.

“We’ve got a drastic shift in the weather that is already in the making, we’ve gone from this long stretch of hot dry weather throughout the month of May and into early June, and now the switch is being flipped to cold conditions and now we’re seeing the potential for snowfall at the highway passes,” she said.

Precipitation that could come down as rain, snow or a mix of both will continue into Tuesday, when the current weather system moves on, according to ECCC.

The meteorologist said that while surprising, this weather is well within the realm of possibility in June. She said the “cold, low season” impacts the entirety of B.C., and during the transition from spring to summer, “anything is possible from heat waves to snow at higher elevations.”

Ervin urges people travelling in the southern Interior to check DriveBC for road conditions.

“For those that are travelling through the high mountain passes over the next couple of days, things you can do to keep yourself safe would be to reduce your speed, drive to the conditions and if necessary you can always take alternate, lower elevation routes,” she added.