Greater Victoria could see snow on Friday, with a chance of more early next week.
“We’ll get a pulse of rain on Friday, but what’s most interesting is whether or not it’s going to fall as snow down at low elevations,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan.
“It’s a bit of a mixed bag in terms of where the freezing levels are going to be,” he said. “If the freezing levels stay down close to sea level, then any kind of intense precipitation could fall as snow.”
Castellan said the Arctic air over B.C.’s Interior, which has been causing heavy snowfall there, will be coming closer to the coast.
He said to expect freezing overnight temperatures starting Friday.
The chance of the region getting a rain/snow mix is about 30 per cent, he said, and there could be more next week.
“This not just a one-hit moment for the snow to have a chance,” he said. “It does continue and we actually see the temperatures drop further on Sunday.”
The weather change should mean good things for Mount Washington Alpine Resort, he said.
“They’ve kind of turned a little bit of a corner,” he said. “This is going to really help the ski resorts, certainly.”
Castellan stressed the need for winter preparedness on the road across the Island, including on the Malahat.
“You want to have extra food, water, a shovel, a flashlight, whatever, because you could get stuck,” he said.
Winter conditions farther up the Island could be worse than in the capital region, he said.
He said it appears the worst of the rain in the region is almost done — for now.
“But then it’s not like we’re out of the woods, because we just continue to get a second and a third and a fourth pulse,” Castellan said.
Rainfall and wind warnings were issued for much of the Island last week.
“It’s literally been a parade of storms,” he said.
