Recent Snow Totals:

Frequent shots of light to moderate snow have added up nicely across Southern BC since Monday night, while Northern BC ski areas Shames Mountain and Powder King have received deep totals.

Here are the latest snow totals over the past 72 hours, ending Thursday AM:

• 35 cm (14") - Powder King
• 30 cm (12") - Shames Mountain
• 20 cm (8") - Revelstoke
• 17 cm (7") - Mt. Seymour
• 16 cm (6") - Cypress Mountain
• 15 cm (6") - Silver Star
• 15 cm (6") - Big White
• 15 cm (6") - Grouse Mountain
• 13 cm (5") - Apex
• 9 cm (4") - Sun Peaks
• 9 cm (4") - Fernie
• 9 cm (4") - Sasquatch Mountain
• 9 cm (4") - Hudson Bay Mountain
• 8 cm (3") - Kicking Horse
• 8 cm (3") - Whitewater
• 6 cm (2") - Mt. Washington
• 5 cm (2") - Whistler
• 5 cm (2") - Manning Park
• 3 cm (1") - Panorama
• 3 cm (1") - Kimberley
• 2 cm (1") - Red Mountain

Forecast for Thursday to Thursday Night:

A storm will move across Northern BC on Thursday with another round of heavy snow expected across the Northern Coast Range and Northern Rockies. 

Shames Mountain and Powder King will pick up an additional 15-30 cm (6-12") of snow from Thursday through Thursday night with skiing conditions remaining deep. Hudson Bay Mountain will see another 2-10 cm (1-4").

Southern BC will largely stay dry through the day on Thursday though winds will become gusty across the higher terrain. Light snow showers will be possible across both the Coast Range and the Interior late Thursday night/early Friday morning.

Forecast for Friday to Friday Night:

Coastal BC:

A weak wave will arrive ahead of an approaching storm late Thursday/early Friday with a round of light snow showers/flurries expected during the morning hours on Friday.

Following a lull, the storm will reach the coast on Friday afternoon with heavy snow developing late in the day and continuing through Friday night. Gusty southwest winds can also be expected through Friday and Friday night.

Snow levels will range from 700-1,100 meters (2.5-3.5k feet), meaning the lower portions of Whistler and the North Shore resorts will see rain mix in. 

Snow totals from Friday morning through Saturday morning will range from 15-30 cm (6-12") at Whistler and Mt. Washington, mid-mountain and above, and 5-13 cm (2-5") at Manning Park. The North Shore Mountains will be in a boom/bust scenario depending on the exact rain/snow line, but I'll go with a forecast of 5-20 cm (2-8") for these resorts.

Interior BC:

A weak wave will arrive ahead of an approaching storm late Thursday/early Friday with a round of light snow showers/flurries expected during the morning hours on Friday.

Friday afternoon looks mostly dry, then snow showers will pick up toward the end of the day and become more widespread during the overnight hours on Friday night. Gusty southwest winds can also be expected on Friday night.

Snow totals through first thing Saturday morning will range from 5-10 cm (2-4") at Revelstoke, Whitewater, Red Mountain, Big White, and Fernie, 2-8 cm (1-3") at Kicking Horse and Apex, and 0-5 cm (0-2") for all other ski areas.

This will be a medium-density snow event but snow levels will stay below ski resort base areas.

Northern BC:

Northern BC will be on the northern fringe of the storm making landfall on Southwest BC. However, moisture will still make into the north with Shames Mountain picking up an additional 5-15 cm (2-6") and Hudson Bay Mountain 2-5 cm (1-2").

Powder King will see some lingering snow on Friday morning from the previous days's storm followed by additional snow showers Friday afternoon-overnight with day+night totals ranging from 10-20 cm (4-8").

Forecast for Saturday to Sunday:

Coastal BC:

On Saturday, we will sort of be in between storms with lingering light to moderate snowfall rates expected through the daytime period on the backside of Friday night's storm. However, the next storm will quickly arrive on Saturday evening with snowfall rates picking up again overnight, and winds will also pick up out of the southwest.

Snowfall will become lighter and more intermittent on the backside of this second storm on Sunday and winds will also be lighter.

Unfortunately, snow levels will be higher on both Saturday and Sunday, ranging from 900-1,200 meters (3-4k feet), and rain will be more of a factor at the North Shore resorts as a result. Whistler's lower mountain will also see rain, but mid-mountain and higher will stay all-snow. Mt. Washington could see rain mix in at the bottom at times but most of its skiable terrain will stay all-snow.

Snow totals from Saturday morning through Sunday night will range from 10-20 cm (4-8") at Whistler and Mt. Washington, mid-mountain and above, while snow accumulations at the North Shore resorts will be light and spotty given the rain issues. 

Interior BC:

Snow showers will continue throughout the day on Saturday on the backside of Friday night's storm. We may see some lulls on Saturday evening, then snow shower activity will pick up again late Saturday night and through the daytime hours on Sunday.

This also looks like a relatively light event with similar snow totals and distributions to Friday's storm. But by the end of the weekend, most areas will see soft snow conditions with consistent light to moderate snowfall during this three-day period along with prior days.

Here is my snow forecast for the 3-day period from Friday morning through Monday morning:

One more thing I will note is that temperatures are projected to rise on Sunday compared to prior days. This could result in rain potentially mixing in at the base of Revelstoke, Red Mountain, and Fernie by Sunday afternoon, but confidence is low at the moment.

Also, southwest winds will be moderately gusty at times through the weekend but do not look particularly strong overall. 

Northern BC:

Snow showers will continue on both Saturday and Sunday with Shames Mountain and Powder King picking up another 10-20 cm (4-8"). Conditions will be outstanding up north this weekend!

Outlook for Monday (Feb 6) to Thursday (Feb 9):

The jet stream will be setting up right over the Pacific Northwest and BC during this period, which should result in a series of storms nearly every day that will likely be stronger than the storms expected over the weekend prior. As a result, many areas of BC could see some of their best skiing conditions since December during this period.

Temperatures and snow levels do not look like they will change much from the weekend, however, so some of the lower elevation areas (especially in the Southwest BC Coast Range) could see rain/snow mix issues in this pattern.

Outlook for February 10th-16th:

As we head into mid-month, a deep trough of low pressure will carve out across Western North America, extending southward toward the Mexico border. Energy and jet stream support will be weak further north in BC, and this pattern will likely favor storms weakening as they reach the coast and diving southward into the U.S.

So we will probably see some glancing blows with light snow in this pattern along with below-average temperatures, but significant snowfall appears unlikely except for perhaps some areas of the Coast Range.

Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Saturday (Feb 4).

ALAN SMITH