An Arctic outflow setup will continue to fuel significant, strait-effect snow along the B.C. coast on Tuesday, likely to result in more travel interruptions and potential school closures
A highly impactful, strait-effect snow event for B.C.'s Vancouver Island on Tuesday could bring additional road closures, school cancellations and significant travel disruptions after Monday's affair.
An unstable air mass, combined with an area of convergence due to Arctic outflow winds over the Strait of Georgia, will continue to produce strait-effect snowfall over Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands on Tuesday.
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Meanwhile, the multi-day snowfall event will finally wind down in the Lower Mainland Tuesday after considerable accumulations were recorded. However, the Arctic air helping to fuel the snowfall will be hanging on beyond Tuesday, keeping temperatures to well below-seasonal values this week.
Stay aware of weather alerts in your area and keep up with the latest highway conditions before heading out.
Strait-effect snow will continue for eastern Vancouver Island through Tuesday. Heavy snowfall bands are expected around the Gulf Islands and southern Vancouver Island, reaching from the Saanich Peninsula to the Comox Valley.
An Arctic outflow setup will continue cold, below-seasonal temperatures seen across the Fraser Valley. That wind direction will be favourable for the strait-effect snow to continue.
"Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow. Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions," says Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in the snowfall warning.
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There is high confidence for more than 30 cm of snow on the Malahat, with a potential for accumulations to exceed 30 cm in Nanaimo and areas east of Victoria for the duration of the strait-effect snow event. Nanaimo and Comox recorded around 11 cm on Monday, with another 5-15 cm expected to fall through Tuesday.
Snowy conditions will finally ease Tuesday afternoon, but temperatures will remain cold for most of the week.
This is a highly impactful snow event throughout the region, with road closures, school cancellations and additional travel disruptions expected through Tuesday.
The Arctic chill will continue beyond the end of the snowfall.
Once the snowfall subsides on Tuesday on Vancouver Island, daytime highs will dive to well below-seasonal values. The added snowpack on the ground will add an extra chill with clearing skies.
Areas with ample snowpack and locales away from the water may see temperatures fall as low as -15℃, particularly in the eastern Fraser Valley and up the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
The pattern will be good news for the province's ski resorts. It will help replenish the ski hills with some fresh, new snow and finally bring winter to coastal sections, which have been missing it so far this season.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on your forecast across British Columbia.
