More rain, mountain snow on the way for B.C. to end the week
Periods of low-elevation rain and mountain snow will continue across southern British Columbia as we head into the weekend. The rain is good news for areas wearily looking ahead toward fire season, as communities across the Interior have started to slip into a drought. More on what to expect through this weekend and beyond, below.
Canada’s May Outlook: Longing for consistent warmth? You may have to wait until June
SOUTH COAST: A MONTH’S WORTH OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE THIS WEEK
After a solid push of rain through the day on Thursday, we’re looking ahead toward a second system approaching B.C. from the south. This next system will arrive on Friday afternoon and continue for the Fraser Valley into Saturday.
When you add all of this week’s rain up, some areas could come close to their average May rainfall in just the first week of the month.
An additional 5-20 mm of rain is possible across the Lower Mainland through this weekend, with locally higher totals possible.
Lower freezing levels will lead to precipitation falling as heavy snow for alpine regions. Some of the mountain peaks could see 15-30 cm of snow this weekend, which is no small feat for the beginning of May. Mountain passes could see a little bit of snowfall as well, but it shouldn’t be a big deal.
WATCH: LOOKING AT B.C.’S ‘SLOW, SLUGGISH START TO SPRING’
INTERIOR: THE OKANAGAN IS ON TRACK FOR MUCH-NEEDED RAINFALL
It’s been a while since we’ve had some active weather across the Interior. Rounds of rain will continue pushing into the Okanagan through this weekend. An additional 5-10 mm of rain is possible, with locally higher and lower totals due to terrain interactions.
The continued rainfall is great news for an area that’s been pretty dry for the past couple of months. The Okanagan could wind up with more rain from this spell of wet weather than they’ve seen in total in the past two months. This rainfall could help as we approach the summer wildfire season.
We’ve only seen 15-40 mm of precipitation across the region over the past couple of months, pushing the region into the “abnormally dry” and “moderate drought” categories on the latest update of the Canadian Drought Monitor.
Temperature-wise, it’s going to be a raw week across southern B.C. We’ll see cooler-than-seasonal temperatures dominate the region heading into next week.
Daytime temperatures hovering in the lower teens will fall short of Vancouver’s seasonal temperature of 15-16°C for the first week of May. Similar daytime highs over in Kelowna will fall significantly behind the city’s seasonal high of 18-19°C for this time of year.
Cooler than seasonal temperatures will continue to dominate into next week. A few days of drier weather are likely during the first half of next week, then becoming unsettled again during mid to late week.
Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest forecast updates for B.C.