Snow, rain and wind on the way to B.C.'s South Coast, Vancouver Island: Environment Canada

After a milder-than-normal start to the season, parts of B.C. will get a blast of winter this week, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

A special weather statement issued Sunday says “a series of storms will bring winter weather conditions along the B.C. coast from Monday through Tuesday.”

According to the weather agency, “significant snow accumulations” are possible for inland sections of the central and south coasts, while areas closer to sea level, like eastern Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver, could see smaller amounts of wet snow followed by heavy rain.

The snow is expected to begin falling early Monday morning, and there’s “a good potential” for two to four centimetres in higher elevation areas of Metro Vancouver, ECCC meteorologist Dave Wray told CTV News.

“We just want to give people a heads up that there could be snow, especially in the Metro Vancouver area, you know, with it being Monday and rush hour and things like that, two to four centimeters sometimes, you know, can be an issue, and also the potential for more as you go further east,” he said.

In the Fraser Valley, Wray said Chilliwack and Abbotsford are likely to get two to four centimetres as well, but further east past Hope, the valley could see five to 10 centimetres of snow.

In the Sea to Sky corridor, higher snowfall between 10 and 15 centimetres is in the forecast, Wray said.

There’s a chance ECCC will issue snowfall warnings as the system gets closer, he added.

On Vancouver Island, two to four centimetres are possible along the eastern coast, while five to six centimetres could fall inland. ECCC is also warning of “very strong winds” in the western and southern parts of the island overnight Monday and into Tuesday.

In addition, winter storm watches were issued Sunday for two Interior highways: the Coquihalla from Hope to Princeton and Hope to Merritt and Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass.

The bulletins warn of periods of heavy snow and strong winds in the region between Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning. “Over the highest elevations, winds will be very strong, conditions will be blizzard-like, with cold wind chill and near-zero visibility,” ECCC says.

The weather agency says any snow in Metro Vancouver or Vancouver Island will turn to rain by Monday afternoon, and get heavy into the evening before tapering off around midnight.

COLD SNAP LATER THIS WEEK

Starting overnight Thursday, Wray said an arctic front will make temperatures drop dramatically.

He said on Friday and Saturday, Metro Vancouver may experience nighttime lows of -7 C and daytime highs of -1 C. Further north towards Whistler or east towards Chilliwack, the temperatures could drop to -11 C or -12 C overnight.

“I would say probably eight to 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year, so not extreme but significant,” Wray said.

“It'll be a lot cooler than people are used to, so you know, bundle up.”

He added that upwards of five centimetres of snow is “probably not out of the question” when the arctic air comes in.

“There's a huge mixed bag of weather coming through for this week, a lot of different things. So I'd say as the days go by, just keep your eye on the on the forecast and watch out for potential warnings,” Wray said.