No 'fresh push of Arctic air' but cold weather will continue for B.C., says meteorologist
Akshay Kulkarni | CBC News | Posted: January 14, 2024 5:03 AM | Last Updated: January 14
More snow could be coming to South Coast Tuesday night, says Environment Canada meteorologist
Weather warnings continue to be in place for most of B.C. this weekend, as an Arctic air mass hanging over the province is resulting in sub-zero temperatures.
Extreme cold warnings are in place for the north and Interior. Temperatures of –40 C are expected near Prince George, with wind chill expected to make it feel like –45 C in the area, and –35 C in the southern Interior.
On the South Coast, Environment Canada has maintained an Arctic outflow warning that has been in place for days, warning of the risk of hypothermia and frostbite due to wind chill making it feel like –20 C in some areas.
Ross Macdonald, an Environment Canada meteorologist, says temperatures are expected to ease slightly on Saturday and Sunday, though still remain cold.
"We aren't getting any kind of fresh push of Arctic air," he said in a Saturday morning interview.
"So, the air mass that's over us will just gradually moderate as we push through the rest of the weekend and into early next week."
Macdonald says temperatures will tick up a few degrees across the province, and Metro Vancouver will remain below 0 C on Saturday.
The Arctic air hanging over the province is part of a wide swath of winter warnings from coast to coast, with all of Alberta covered by weather warnings Saturday.
Scientists have attributed the plummeting temperatures to a polar vortex, where Arctic air that would normally swirl around the North Pole makes its way south, causing freezing conditions.
A number of delays were reported at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) amid the freezing temperatures, with dozens of arrivals and a number of departures impacted as of 11 a.m. PT Saturday.
CBC News has reached out to YVR for comment. In an earlier statement, a spokesperson said the airport authority would continue to monitor the weather this weekend.
WATCH | Vancouver ponds freeze over:
In Vancouver, some people were seen ice skating on frozen ponds in multiple parks Saturday, including Trout Lake Park in East Vancouver.
At Vanier Park near False Creek, dozens were skating and playing a game of shinny, or pickup hockey.
"It's like a winter dream come true," said Nick Sedlar, hockey stick in hand. "Today the ice was like glass, it was incredible."
In a statement to CBC, the City of Vancouver says it does not recommend ice skating on any ponds or lakes at this time.
More snow on the horizon
A number of weather records were broken Friday due to the plummeting temperatures, with areas including Victoria, Kamloops, and Burns Lake in the north seeing new record low temperatures for Jan. 12.
According to Environment Canada, the weather station at the University of Victoria recorded a minimum temperature of –11.6 C, the station at Kamloops recorded –26.6 C, and Burns Lake Airport a frosty –40.5 C.
Macdonald says Abbotsford's minimum temperature was –15.4 C on Friday, with the previous record being –12 C for that date.
"It's not climbing very warm during the day as well, and there's a lot of widespread records for lowest maximum temperatures," he said. "We'll likely see, you know more more of those daily temperature records [Saturday]."
He adds that an incoming weather system will likely bring snowfall to the South Coast on Tuesday night.
"Just how much [the snowfall] is, we'll have to see how it goes here," he said.
"It's still, I would say, too early to tell, but I would say people should be prepared for some snow coming in late Tuesday, Tuesday night and into early Wednesday."
Sudden snowfall on Thursday brought Metro Vancouver traffic to a grinding halt, with buses spun out and people having to push cars up hills.
"For folks heading outside, you know, certainly dress in layers, bundle up, maybe limit your time outside certainly with these cold temperatures," Macdonald said.