British Columbia Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest British Columbia Daily Snow

By Alan Smith, Meteorologist Posted 2 years ago April 9, 2021

One more storm then drying out

Summary

Several ski areas will remain open through this weekend and will enjoy one last shot of snow on Friday-Saturday before shutting down for the season. Snow levels will remain low during this storm with the deepest totals (for open areas) expected at the North Shore resorts. A warm and dry pattern will take hold starting next week.

Short Term Forecast

Coastal BC:

A storm will impact the Coast Range with cold air and low snow levels on Friday. Heavy snow will develop early in the day on Friday and continue throughout the afternoon and evening hours before tapering off late Friday night.

Cypress Mtn, Grouse Mtn, and Mt. Seymour are the three ski areas in the Coast Range that are still open and these areas will be the most favored in this storm with 15-30 cm (6-12") expected.

Friday afternoon and evening will offer good storm skiing while first chair Saturday morning will offer plenty of fresh powder turns as well before the sun comes out on Saturday afternoon.

Outside of the North Shore, other areas are closed for the season, but for reference, Whistler should pick up around 10-20 cm (4-8") and Mt. Washington and Manning Park 5-15 cm (2-6"). 

Conditions will quickly clear out on Saturday and Sunday with sunny skies and warmer temperatures. It will be back to spring skiing conditions for closing day at Cypress Mtn and Mt. Seymour on Sunday. Grouse Mtn is scheduled to remain open as long as conditions allow.

Interior BC:

Three ski areas will remain open across the Interior through Sunday: Fernie, Panorama, and Kicking Horse. A storm will impact the Interior on Friday and Saturday with snow spreading into western portions on Friday afternoon, before picking up across all of the Interior on Friday night.

Kicking Horse and Panorama will see its heaviest snow on Friday night with lighter snow lingering into Saturday, while Fernie will see light snow initially on Friday night followed by heavier snow on Saturday morning.

All of these areas will pick up around 5-15 cm (2-6") of snow with Kicking Horse and Panorama enjoying its best conditions first thing Saturday morning, and Fernie around midday Saturday or early Saturday afternoon.

Elsewhere, snow totals could approach 30 cm (12") across the higher terrain of the North and Central Columbias.

For closing day on Sunday, another disturbance will impact areas east of the Continental Divide in Alberta, but the BC Interior will only see some scattered clouds and maybe a few flurries for eastern areas (including the three areas that remain open).

Northern BC:

Powder King picked up 15 cm (6") of new snow on Thursday night with fresh powder to enjoy on Friday morning. Additional light to moderate snow showers will continue across Northern BC during the day on Friday across all of the major ranges from the Coast Range to the Rockies.

Over the weekend, conditions will dry out on Saturday with decreasing clouds. A weak disturbance will bring some light snow showers to Powder King and the North Rockies on Sunday, but accumulations will be light.

Extended Forecast

Get ready for a big warm-up next week that will accelerate snowmelt. A ridge of high pressure will build across Western Canada starting on Monday and this pattern will result in dry and sunny conditions along with above-average temperatures for an extended period of time.

Confidence is high that this pattern will continue through at least April 18th, and long-range models are also projecting the warm/dry pattern to remain in place in the 10-15 day range (April 19th-24th).

Thanks for reading and check back for my next post on Wednesday, April 14th.

ALAN SMITH

Announcements

Late Season Forecasting Updates:

My forecasting frequency is beginning to wind down as ski areas start to close for the season. Next week, I'll be writing forecasts on Tuesday, April 6th and Friday, April 9th. Beyond that, I will continue with weekly updates through mid/late April.

Closing Dates:

Cypress Mountain – April 11

Fernie – April 11

Kicking Horse – April 11

Kimberley – April 11

Mt. Seymour – April 11

Panorama – April 11

Powder King – April 11

Hudson Bay Mountain – April 25 (weekends only)

Grouse Mountain – TBD as conditions allow

Whistler-Blackcomb – CLOSED (early closure due to COVID)

Big White – CLOSED

Sasquatch Mountain – CLOSED

Shames Mountain – CLOSED 

Whitewater – CLOSED

Apex – CLOSED

Manning Park – CLOSED

Mt. Washington – CLOSED

Silverstar – CLOSED

Sun Peaks – CLOSED

Red Mountain – CLOSED

Revelstoke – CLOSED

Mt. Baldy – CLOSED

Freezing Level Guide:

1,000 meters = 3,280 feet
1,200 meters = 3,937 feet
1,500 meters = 4,921 feet
2,000 meters = 6,561 feet
2,500 meters = 8,202 feet

*Snow Levels* – As a general rule of thumb, subtract 300 meters (or 1,000 feet) from the freezing level to get the approximate snow level. This isn't always exact and varies depending on the storm/setup, but is a good rule of thumb.

Geography Key

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

Interior BC - North/Central Columbia
Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, Panorama, 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 Bobbie Burns, CMH Bugaboos, CMH Cariboos, CMH Valemount, Mike Wiegele Heli, Retallack Heli, Stellar Heli, Selkirk Range, Monashee Range, Purcell Range, Fairmont Hot Springs

Interior BC - Kootenay Boundary 
Whitewater, Red Mountain, Fernie, Kimberley, Kootenay Pass, Kokanee Glacier Park, Southern Selkirk/Purcell Mountains, Island Lake Cat Skiing, Snow Water Heli, Valhalla Powdercats, CMH Kootenay, CMH Nomads

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

Northern BC
Shames Mountain, Hudson Bay Mountain, Powder King, Murray Ridge, Northern Coast Range, Skeena Range, Cariboo Range, Northern Rockies, CMH Cariboos, CMH Valemount, Skeena Cat and Heli Skiing, Bella Coola Eagle Lodge

About Our Forecaster

Alan Smith

Meteorologist

Alan Smith received a B.S. in Meteorology from Metropolitan State University of Denver and has been working in the private sector since 2013. When he’s not watching the weather from the office, Alan loves to spend time outdoors skiing, hiking, and mountain biking, and of course keeping an eye on the sky for weather changes while recreating.

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