Snowfall records could be broken in Metro Vancouver this weekend: Environment Canada

Snowfall warnings have been issued for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, with a heavy dump of snow in the forecast this weekend.

Environment Canada says this blast of winter could break records and is urging people to stay off the roads if possible.

CITIES PREPARING

City crews across the Lower Mainland have really had the upper hand this time around.

They’ve known a storm was coming for days now and, while the weather has been extremely cold, it’s also been dry for the most part.

That’s allowed crews to prepare most streets in advance with salt and brine.

On Friday morning, it was all hands on deck at the Surrey Works Yard and Operations Centre.

There was a steady stream of brining trucks filling up and hitting the road.

The city says it’s well prepared with more than 10,000 tonnes of salt on hand.

When the snow starts to stick Saturday, crews will hit the major routes first.

Since they’ll be able to cover more ground in light traffic, crews are asking people to stay home.

“Of course, during an actual event if the traffic's bad, that can really hinder our response time,” said Matt Brown, the City of Surrey’s street manager.

He says the city faces some unique challenges as well, such as a wide variety of elevation levels.

It was a similar story in Vancouver, where Mayor Ken Sim took to Twitter to say crews have been "fully deployed" to start pre-treating roads ahead of the storm.

WARNINGS ABOUND

Nearly the entire province was under some sort of weather alert Friday, as B.C. was hit with a deep freeze.

Environment Canada says light flakes will start to fall in Metro Vancouver on Saturday afternoon, which will intensify to heavy snow by the evening.

The amount of snow will largely be determined by the strength of the arctic outflow winds.

Total accumulations of 15 to 25 centimetres are possible, while higher elevations may see up to 35.

It’s expected to ease in most areas by Sunday afternoon, with sunny skies in the forecast.

RECORD-SETTING SNOW POSSIBLE

Environment Canada data for the City of Vancouver shows the most snowfall recorded on Feb. 25 since 1938 was 3.6 centimetres in 1955. For Feb. 26, the record was 13.2 centimetres in 1971.

Armel Castellan, an Emergency Preparedness Meteorologist with Environment Canada, says a sudden dump of snow like this is a little out of the ordinary for this time of year.

“This Arctic outflow kind of making its way to the south coast has brought us temperatures that are well below seasonal values—you know, almost 10 degrees below,” he said.

It’s expected to warm up fairly quickly, however. Castellan said the region is likely to see temperatures rise to sit in the mid single digits as the storm passes, making the conditions perfect for snowman building.

Temperatures should be even higher by the middle of next week.