Weather statements posted on some B.C. Interior highways as cold front chases summer out

VANCOUVER – Fall is still more than a week away but drivers on British Columbia's Coquihalla Highway can be forgiven for thinking winter is arriving.

Environment Canada has issued special weather statements, forecasting about two centimetres of snow on upper elevations of the route and at the summit of Highway 97, between Clinton and 100 Mile House in the central Interior.

The weather office says a cold front is crossing parts of the Interior, dropping the freezing level at higher elevations.

Many south-central B.C. communities started the day with a skiff of snow after residents in the northeast saw back-to-back snowfalls on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Snowfall warnings remain in effect along the Alberta/B.C. boundary, with Environment Canada advising that as much as 15 centimetres will add to accumulations already blanketing Jasper and Banff national parks.

Conditions in the two parks are not expected to ease until late in the day and the weather office warns drivers to be prepared for quickly changing and deteriorating conditions on higher elevations of highways around B.C.