We could still see snow on Christmas! We have precipitation coming into the area at about 9PM. Will it be rain or snow? Probably a bit of both. Whether it sticks and how much will depend on your elevation and proximity to water. Details on timing and locations below.
Here’s some of my dash footage from last week’s historic storm when I went through the next morning around 9AM.
More than 5 days after the first outages began there are still more than 11,000 people affect by more than 550 separate outages.
Multiple locations opened for temporary shelter in Port Alberni including Echo Centre and Trinity Church as highway to the east and west were shut and all accomodations were full.
There is no doubt this will be remembered as a historic storm, much like 2006. I love this GIF of the storm you can see the centre as it approaches and deepens tonthe west of the Island and the clouds forming streaks over the coastal mountain ranges.
Snow tonight and on Boxing Day?
Here’s what’s for sure: Precipiatation will start late tonight, likely after 8PM. What is unsure is the form of moisture. Enviornment Canada has a Special Weather statement but it is much less sure sounding for low-level snow:
Low elevation areas away from the immediate coast may also see brief periods of wet snow during heavier precipitation Wednesday morning.
The UWash model agrees. It shows no snow at low elevations (white areas), but quite a bit on the mountains. Great news for Mt. Washington!
On the other side of the spectrum, some models are predicting all the precipitation to fall as snow… up to 12cm, but those models have predicted much cooler temperatures than we have right now at 5°C.
So the moral of the story tonight is… Merry Christmas! And if you are headed on the road late tonight or anytime on Boxing Day, take care, you may see snow on the road, or in the air particularly in the morning before 10AM. Things should mostly dry out by noon but there will be a chance of showers all day.
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