Chilly morning – Freezing on Hump – Possible east coast flurries – Arctic Wind Coming!

Watch for black ice

I noticed the car said it was -1°C on the Hump and through Coombs this morning. Be careful if you are in a spot that might have some moisture as it may have turned to black ice.

This is a warmup (coldup?) for what is coming Wednesday as Arctic air swoops down into the Lower Mainland (there is a SWS) and onto the Island.

Possible East side Flurries.

The UWash model has flurries possible at higher elevations this morning as moisture exits the Fraser Valley and travels across the strait. Temperatures and rate will determine if this is mostly rain or flurries.

Here are the rain, and then snow, pictures for this morning betweem 7-10AM.

Rain Scale – Millimeters on top, centi-inches on bottom. (1024cin = 10 inches)

You can see the rain is more widespread in the Gulf Islands of Gabriola, near Nanaimo and Ladysmith. The lower picture shows snowfall (not necessarily accumulation) in green. You can see that it is mostly a little removed from the water except perhaps just north of Ladysmith.

The next pictures from 10AM-1AM have a few more showers, spread a little more widely all the way up to Deep Bay and Qualicum.

The snow picture has flurries in the higher elevations east of Nanaimo and Ladysmith but also some flurries north of Parksville on Highway 19 and 19A.

Cold coming Wednesday

This is a prelude to much colder air invading the coast Wednesday afternoon and evening.

In the series of pictures below, watch for the grey-blue colour to creep in on the right hand side from the Fraser Valley and Howe Sound as well as along the coast of the Island from Campbell River down to Qualicum.

1-4PM Wednesday no cold air
4-7PM cold air creeping…
Cold air reaching into Georgia Strait from Howe Sound and down the Island past Hornby/Denman
1-4AM Thursday morning.

By Thursday morning there are light-blue freezing or below freezing temperatures. Coldest places are in the Campbell River, Alberni Valley and Cowichan Valley with values down to -4°C.

There will be windchills throughout this period starting Wednesday evening that will make it feel much colder, as low as -10°C in some places.

Bundle up!

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