British Columbia Daily Snow

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By Alan Smith, Meteorologist Posted 2 years ago January 17, 2022

Revelstoke & Northern BC are favored this week

Summary

Two storms will impact BC this week and both storms will favor Northern BC for the heaviest snowfall along with Revelstoke and northern portions of the Powder Highway. Areas closer to the U.S. border will see comparatively less snow, though Thursday could be decent for the Interior (in addition to Revelstoke). The pattern will then take a break this weekend and for much of next week

Short Term Forecast

Snow Forecasts by Region:

View → Coast Range

View → Powder Highway

View → Okanagan

Forecast for Monday - Tuesday:

Snow totals over the past 24 hours (ending Monday AM) include 38 cm (15") at Powder King, 18 cm (7") at Revelstoke, and 5 cm (2") at Kicking Horse with little to no snow elsewhere.

A storm will continue to favor Central BC on Monday and into Monday night with the heaviest snow expected across the Northern Powder Highway (Revelstoke, Rogers Pass, Kicking Horse), Cariboo Mountains, and the Northern Rockies including Powder King.

The Central Coast Range (from Whistler to Bella Coola) will also see light to moderate snow.

Snow levels will be around 1,400 meters or so at Whistler, and around 900-1,200 meters at Revelstoke whose low elevation base area will see more rain than snow. The North Shore Mountains will see mostly rain with average snow levels of 1,500 meters or higher.

Here are projected snow totals from the high-res Canadian Model for Monday morning through Tuesday morning:

On Tuesday, we will see a break in the pattern with dry conditions for most areas aside from some lingering morning flurries across the Interior. 

Forecast for Wednesday - Friday:

A stronger storm will impact a larger portion of BC from Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning. Northern and Central BC (Revelstoke/Rogers Pass northward) will see the heaviest snow totals from this storm once again, but southern portions of BC closer to the Canadian border should also pick up some decent snow, except for the North Shore who will continue to see mostly rain.

Snow will first pick up across the entire Coast Range starting on Wednesday afternoon with snowfall rates increasing on Wednesday night especially with west/southwest winds.

Heavy snow will continue across the Coast Range on Thursday morning and will start to pick up over the Interior as well. 

On Thursday afternoon and Thursday night, winds aloft will shift to the northwest and the focus of the heaviest snow will favor the Powder Highway, especially northern portions.

Light snow could linger during the first part of the day on Friday as well across the Interior.

Temperatures will be colder in this storm with snow levels near or below base areas across the Interior. For the Coast Range, snow levels will be near (or occasionally just above) the base at Shames Mountain, around 900-1,200 meters at Whistler, and 1,200-1,500 meters for the North Shore Resorts (who will see mostly rain).

Here is a large-scale zoomed-out snowfall map of BC for Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon. I expect Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, and Powder King to see the deepest totals from this storm. The remainder of the Powder Highway and Okanagan regions, as well as Whistler, should also see light to moderate amounts. Friday morning will offer the deepest conditions on the slopes for most areas. 

Extended Forecast

A strong and persistent ridge of high pressure will build over the area from Saturday (1/22) through Thursday (1/27), resulting in mostly dry and mild conditions with limited snow potential. The storm track will retreat well north into Alaska, though Northwest BC could potentially see some light snow from time to time.

Heading into the last few days of January, most long-range models are projecting high pressure to break down with colder and more active weather returning along with improved snowfall potential.

Still way too early to know exactly how this pattern will evolve, but we should see more favorable conditions return to some extent as we close out the month of January and head into February.

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Wednesday (1/19).

ALAN SMITH

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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