British Columbia is about to experience another cold snap.
Most of the province is under a special weather statement from Environment Canada, indicating arctic air is expected to sweep over B.C. Temperatures 10 to 20 degrees colder than normal for this time of year are expected in many places.
Frigid air is expected to bring high winds across the Peace Region, gusting up to 50km/hr starting Thursday evening. On Friday, temperatures are expected to drop into the minus 20s.
While this blast of winter will temporarily improve what have been very dangerous avalanche conditions, there are concerns it could create even more problems when things warm up.
“The upper snowpack starts to soften and break down a bit. Now, that's not necessarily a problem at the time of the cold weather, but it can mean that after the cold weather, the next storm that comes in may be sitting on weaker layers,” said Lynnea Baker, a forecaster for Avalanche Canada.
B.C.’s snowpack hasn’t been this weak in 20 years.
Experts have warned this could be one of the deadliest avalanche seasons on record. B.C. has already recorded five avalanche deaths in the first month of 2023.
Environment Canada says things should warm up across the province by late next week. The Peace Region is expected to see temperatures rise to -4°C on Monday, before dropping to -18°C on Wednesday.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Regan Hasegawa.
