Snowfall warning issued for Coquihalla Highway

As many as 20 centimetres of snow could fall on the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt today, March 15.

“A system moving across southwestern B.C. is bringing heavy snow to higher elevation highway passes,” a snowfall warning issued by Environment Canada said. “Snow accumulations will vary dramatically with elevation along the route. Near the Coquihalla Summit, snowfall amounts of 15 to 20 cm are expected before heavy snow eases to periods of light snow late overnight.”

About seven centimetres of snow had already fallen in the area by 11 a.m. today, meteorologist Trevor Smith told iNFOnews.ca.

“That convective air mass with these heavy bursts of snow could add up to a fair amount of snow and, of course, if you’re in one of those bursts of snow, the driving conditions could be pretty hazardous,” he said.

A lesser amount of snow is likely for Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton and only isolated flurries are expected along the highways from Merritt to Kamloops and Kelowna, he said.

There is also a slight risk of a thunderstorm in the Kamloops area but it’s more likely to hit further east, in the Columbia and Kootenay regions, Smith said. There’s even less of a chance of thundershowers in the Okanagan.

The system should pass through by morning with some clearing and sunny breaks tomorrow.

Highs are forecast to range from 11 to 13 Celsius in Kamloops through the rest of the week and a couple of degrees cooler in the Okanagan.

For the very latest on highway conditions go to Drive B.C. here.

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