The Northern Coast Range has been the one area to see respectable snowfall over the past couple of days, with 48-hour snow totals of 33 cm (13”) at Shames Mountain, while interior ranges of Northern BC picked up light snow as well.

Southern BC has experienced dry weather all week and Friday has been no exception, but changes are on the way.

Across the Interior, sunny skies remain prevalent, as can be seen at Revelstoke as of early Friday afternoon.

However, farther west across the Coast Range, high clouds are on the increase at Whistler, a sign that the next system is on its way.

We have a couple of storms on the way for the weekend. The first storm will bring snow to the Coast Range and most of the Interior from Friday night through Saturday morning, while a second stronger storm will bring snow from Sunday morning through Sunday night. A trailing disturbance will then bring additional snow mainly to the Interior on Monday.

Friday night - Saturday afternoon:

The first storm is already bringing more snow to Northern BC during the day on Friday. The Coast Range will get in on the action later Friday, with snow falling from early Friday evening through late Saturday morning, with first chair on Saturday offering the best powder turns.

Across the Interior, snow will arrive later Friday night and continue through early Saturday afternoon, with good storm skiing conditions expected through at least the first half of the day on Saturday.

Freezing levels should remain near or below base areas with this storm.

Here is my snow forecast for Friday-Saturday:

Coastal BC - 8-20 cm (3-8”) for all areas

North/Central Columbia, North Okanagan, Northeast Purcell - 8-20 cm (3-8”) including Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, Sun Peaks, and Silver Star

Kootenay, South Okanagan - 2-10 cm (1-4”) including Big White, Apex, Whitewater, Red Mountain

Lizard Range, Southeast Purcell - minimal if any snow, including Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama

Northern BC - 5-15 cm (2-6”) for all areas

Sunday - Sunday Night:

The next storm will arrive Sunday and will bring snow to the Coast Range from early Sunday morning through late Sunday evening, with all-day Sunday offering good storm skiing conditions, with last chair offering the deepest turns.

The most widespread snow will fall across the Interior from mid-morning Sunday through early Monday morning, with all-day Sunday offering good storm skiing conditions, while Monday morning will offer some of the deepest turns.

This storm will be stronger than the Friday night/Saturday storm, but will also be tracking farther south.

As a result, areas closer to the US border in both the Coast Range and the Interior will see the heaviest snow amounts.

Freezing levels will also be near/below base areas with this storm.

Here is my snow forecast for Sunday-Sunday night:

Coastal BC - 5-15 cm (2-6”) for Whistler and Mt. Washington and 10-30 cm (4-12”) for the Vancouver area resorts and eastern slopes

South Okanagan, Kootenay, Lizard Range - 10-25 cm (4-10”) including Big White, Apex, Whitewater, Red Mountain, and Fernie

North/Central Columbia, North Okangan, East Purcell - 5-13 cm (2-5”) including Revelstoke, Sun Peaks, Silver Star, Kicking Horse, Panorama, and Kimberley

Northern BC - 2-8 cm (1-3”) for all areas

Monday - Monday Night:

A jet streak (i.e. wind maximum in the jet stream) will move across Interior BC on Monday, which combined with a moist and unsettled northwest flow, will continue to result in additional snow showers.

Interior BC, as well as Northern BC, will pick up another 2-10 cm (1-4”) of snow from Monday through Monday evening. Coastal BC will see minimal if any snow except perhaps the southeast slopes including Manning Park where 2-10 cm (1-4”) will be possible.

I’m expecting a relatively quiet pattern to return for much of next week, though a weak storm with light snow will be possible on Tuesday or Wednesday (February 25th-26th). We should then dry out across Southern BC on the 27-28th while Northern BC will be in the flow with new snow possible every day next week, especially around Shames Mountain.

We should get into a more active pattern again across Southern BC starting around February 29th-March 1st as high pressure is projected to weaken and shift farther west. As a result, I’m expecting to see more frequent snow chances as we head into the first week of March.

Thanks for reading!  My next forecast will be posted on Saturday morning.

ALAN SMITH  

Geography Key

Coastal BC
Whistler, Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, Mt. Seymour, Sasquatch Mountain, Mt. Washington, Mt. Cain, Coast Range, Coquihalla Summit, Vancouver Island, Coast Range Inland Region

Interior BC - North/Central Columbia
Revelstoke, Rogers Pass, Mustang Powder Cats, Monashee Snowcats, Kingfisher Heli, White Grizzly Cat Skiing, Great Northern Snowcat Skiing, Eagle Pass Heli, Keefer Lake Lodge, CMH Adamants, CMH Gothics, CMH Monashees, CMH Revelstoke, CMH Galena, CMH Cariboos, CMH Valemount, Mike Wiegele Heli, Retallack Heli, Stellar Heli, Selkirk Range, Monashee Range, Central/Western Purcell Range, Western Cariboo Range 

Interior BC - Western Columbia/Okanagan
Big White, Silver Star, Sun Peaks, Apex Mountain, Baldy Mountain

Interior BC - Kootenay Region
Whitewater, Red Mountain, Kootenay Pass, Kokanee Glacier Park, Southern Selkirk/Purcell Mountains, Snow Water Heli, Valhalla Powdercats, CMH Kootenay, CMH Nomads

Interior BC - Lizard Range
Fernie, Island Lake Cat Skiing

Interior BC - East Purcells
Kicking Horse, Panorama, Kimberley, Fairmont Hot Springs, Eastern Cariboo Range, CMH Bobbie Burns, CMH Bugaboos

Northern BC
Shames Mountain, Hudson Bay Mountain, Powder King, Murray Ridge, Northern Coast Range, Skeena Range, Northern Rockies