Wind, winter storm warnings posted throughout B.C., conditions to ease Sunday

A person walks past the snow-covered square outside the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Most of British Columbia is subject to warnings and special weather statements as Environment Canada forecasts blustery and snowy conditions this weekend.

The heaviest snow is forecast for Fort Nelson, where the weather office says accumulations could exceed 30 centimeters before easing around midday Sunday.

It says power outages are possible in the Greater Victoria and Metro Vancouver areas, where strong westerly winds are in the forecast overnight.

It says the winds could gust up to 80 or 90 kilometres per hour as an “intense” Pacific cold front sweeps across the south coast before easing Sunday morning.

The weather office has also posted winter storm warnings for much of the southern Interior, stretching from the eastern Fraser Valley to the Elk Valley near the boundary with Alberta, with up to 20 centimetres of snow expected in Fernie, B.C.

Heavy, blowing snow is forecast along high-elevation sections of highways throughout southern B.C., with accumulations up to 25 centimetres in the forecast.

Routes subject to warnings include the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt, the Okanagan Connector, the Trans-Canada Highway around Revelstoke, as well as high-elevation sections of Highway 3 in the south and Highway 97 in the northeast.

Meanwhile, lower-level special weather statements are in effect throughout the rest of the central Interior, where snow and winds are also expected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2022.