iN TRAFFIC: Be prepared for black ice and compact snow in Southern B.C.

Black ice is among the hazards on the Interior highways this morning, Feb. 8. 

DriveB.C. is reporting Highway 1 has black ice between Kamloops and Sicamous; Highway 5 has compact snow Merritt to Surrey Lake Summit; Highway 6EW has black ice between Vernon and Coldstream; Highway 97 has slippery sections from Osoyoos to Okanagan Falls and black ice between Vernon and Coldstream; Highway 97B has black ice throughout; Highway 97C has compact snow between Merritt and Ashcroft; Highway 97D has compact snow throughout; and black ice has been reported on Westside Road.

Charles Andrews commutes from Armstrong to Sicamous via Highway 97A.

“Lots of opportunities to go slipping and sliding this morning,” Andrews said.“Mostly bare and wet and the temperature was hovering around 0 to -1 Celsius. Some slippery slush from Enderby to Grindrod. Slow and steady will get you there.”

Looking at weather, Kamloops will warm from 0 to 4 C today and then dip down to -1 C tonight, according to Environment Canada. Vernon and Kelowna will warm from 0 to 6 C and then drop to -1 C by midnight. And in Penticton expected to get a high of 6 C and low of 1 C.

At the ski hills, Big White Mountain Resort is reporting 4 centimetres of new snow and 27 cm over the two days. There’s 8 cm of new snow at Sun Peaks Ski Resort and 26 cm over the past week. The last significant snowfall at SilverStar Mountain Resort was 4 cm on Jan. 31 and today there is a fresh snow depth of 2 cm. And Apex Mountain Resort is reporting 5 cm of new snow and 15 cm over the past week.

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