Two days of snow heading our way
Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, November 30, 2007
VANCOUVER - The weather man is promising Lower Mainland residents an interesting weekend with snow in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday, followed by a rapid rise in temperatures with high winds and lots of rain early next week.
Environment Canada issued snow warnings late today as
an anticipated five to 10 centimetres of snow was expected in the Vancouver area over the weekend, with snow beginning late Saturday.
Temperatures will remain at around zero before rising to about 4 C as snow turns to rain Sunday afternoon.
Monday will see a warming trend continue, with temperatures peaking at about 12 C as a front containing subtropical moisture moves across the southern parts of the province.
The weather office said it expects to post a storm warning for Monday, with winds of 40 kilometres an hour to 60 km/h expected in the Vancouver area later in the day, combined with heavy rain.
The storm will punch its way through the Fraser Valley and into the Interior and could bring freezing rain to parts of those areas overnight Monday.
On Tuesday, the weather is expected to be mild with showery conditions.
Vancouver and other cities in the region have made plans to deal with what is promising to be the year's first large snowfall. Vancouver has called in 14 truck drivers to begin work at 7 a.m. Saturday salting roads, especially around hospitals and in steep sections of the city. Crews have been salting streets since the weather turned cold, said Murray Wightman, the city's manager for streets.
"We'll have a full shift change overnight Saturday to keep on top of things and to clear whatever snow we have to deal with," said Wightman.
In Burnaby, works crews were loading up the city's 11 salt trucks today, and road crews were given notice they will likely be called out to clear roads.
Richmond will have some road crews come in over the weekend to salt roads ahead of the snowfall, said Suzanne Bycraft, an official with the city's emergency response program.
"We'll salt first. Then if the snow builds up, we'll put the plows out," Bycraft said.
gbellett@png.canwest.com