Environment Canada issued two snowfall warnings for parts of Vancouver Island Monday, as snow squalls slammed the area.
Victoria was blanketed with snow in the morning, and police say they have been called to numerous collisions caused by poor road conditions. Several roads in the city have become impassable. Camosun College cancelled classes at both its campuses because of the incliment weather.
West Shore RCMP Const. Julie Chanin said Monday afternoon conditions are worsening and drivers should stay off the roads if possible.
Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for Port Alberni in the early afternoon, saying 25 centimetres could fall by the end of the day. Fifteen centimeters had already fallen by the time the agency sent out its bulletin.
In Pictures: Snow hits Victoria
Victoria was also under a snowfall warning, with five to 10 centimetres predicted.
The agency predicted increasing winds of up to 70 kilometres an hour to hit the Victoria region this evening, diminishing to 30 overnight.
The sudden deep freeze is being blamed on a deepening arctic air mass combined with moisture moving towards Vancouver Island, or "streamers."
CTV Meteorologist Jesse Mason said the flurries are similar to lake-effect snow, except that it's happening over the sea.
"It's picking up that moisture and slamming that Eastern part of the island," Mason said.
That snowfall is picking up moisture over the Georgia Strait and dumping up to 10 centimetres of snow across parts of the Sunshine Coast, East Vancouver Island vicinity and south of Nanaimo, Southern Gulf Islands and the Victoria area.
Winds gusting from 70 to 90 kilometres an hour are combining with the cold temperatures to produce wind chill values down to minus 20 degrees over the Central Coast and over inland sections of the North Coast.
Environment Canada said these conditions would spread to Howe Sound and Whistler Monday afternoon and into the Fraser Valley this evening.
