Arctic air is going to push Vancouver into some frigid weather, but could that mean snow for the region?
While unlikely, it’s not necessarily impossible, according to a chat Daily Hive had with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Meteorologist Ken Dosanjh.
“We are going to see a pattern shift starting next week,” Dosanjh told Daily Hive, adding that it’s generally been warmer than usual the past couple of months. That includes November, as temperatures have been a bit above seasonal.
“So we are seeing a pretty good shift into winter mode,” he added.
What Dosanjh means by that is that cold air is expected to invade B.C. from the Arctic and northern territories towards the Interior of B.C.
“For Vancouver specifically, we are noticing a system that will start to crash into the central coast around tomorrow.”
That system that’s crashing into the coast is the prelude to the cold spell. This weekend will actually see a bit of warming with more rainfall.
Next week, likely beginning Monday, there’s going to be a drop in temperature.
Dosanjh says that daytime highs next week will be in the single digits, and overnight lows will be near freezing. Already in its seven-day forecast, ECCC predicts a drop into near-freezing temperatures overnight on Monday night.
“So we are transitioning into a cooler regime.”
ECCC
Dosanjh says the colder weather will see peak coolness next week, around Tuesday, till Thursday next week, before the cool air shifts eastward. He also mentioned that when we get this kind of cool air moving through the region, it can occasionally bring breezy outflow winds.
Chatting more about the potential for snow, Dosanjh mentioned that it’s possible we’d see some fall in areas like the Sea to Sky Highway. There aren’t any strong signals yet for snow in Vancouver specifically, but Dosanjh says things can change quickly when Arctic air is involved this time of year for some parts of the province, including higher elevation areas like the North Shore.
If on the off-chance we do see snow in Vancouver, it sounds like it’ll be trace amounts, and not anything snowmageddon worthy, yet.
CNN is also reporting that a polar vortex could impact some parts of the Northern Hemisphere over the next 10 days.