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Snowy morning commute in Metro Vancouver and South Coast

Metro Vancouver and the rest of B.C.'s South Coast got a few centimetres of snow, but no major transit problems were reported during the morning commute.

Snow is expected to turn to rain at lower elevations as the day progresses

Mike Laanela · CBC News ·
A least one car did not make it safely down Burnaby Mountain on Friday morning. (Jon Hernandez/CBC)

Metro Vancouver and the rest of B.C.'s South Coast got a few centimetres of snow, but no major transit problems were reported during the morning commute.

Forecasters are now predicting it will turn to rain at lower elevations as the day progresses, before snowing again overnight and into Saturday morning.

The heaviest snow appeared to have fallen in Victoria and Vancouver Island where up to five centimetres had accumulated, prompting some school districts to announce closures. Rain has already started to move in to some parts of the island.

Heavy snow also fell in the Fraser Valley where strong wind reduced visibility for drivers and cause at least one bad accident.

A snowplow clears Highway 1 near the 192 exit in Langley on Friday morning. (Jesse Johnson/CBC)

It is also snowed heavily across parts of the southern Interior, including on the Coquihalla Highway.

Expect more by Saturday

The snowstorm was originally forecast to hit the region late Thursday night, but was held up by a dry Arctic air mass, according to Environment Canada metrologist Matt MacDonald.

"We were staring at our radar all night long, and we could see snow in the atmosphere, and it took until about 4 a.m. for that snow to finally hit the ground here," he said Friday morning.

Snow is falling Port Moody on Friday morning and more is on the way. (Farrah Merali/CBC)

Environment Canada has revised its earlier warnings to say 10 to 15 centimetres will fall on the region by Saturday morning.

Then on Saturday morning it could switch back to rain again, but not enough to wash away most of the snow, MacDonald forecasts.

There is plenty of snow on the Coquihalla on Friday morning. (DriveBC.ca)

Metro Vancouver transit updates

The latest snow comes after a surprise storm crippled transit and jammed roads across the region Monday. Transit and highway crews have prepped for this storm.

Snow was falling in Vancouver by 6 a.m. Friday. Predictions are for up to 20 centimetres by Saturday morning. (CBC)

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