Significant snow on the way for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN – Winter isn’t giving up its snowy, cold grip on the Okanagan anytime soon, and certainly not this weekend.

Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon says it’s been tough predicting what this week’s weather systems were going to bring to the Okanagan, but the latest system coming our way is now expected to bring a significant amount of snow overnight tonight, Feb. 14, and tomorrow.

Mainly cloudy skies in the valley will give way to cloudy conditions and snow overnight with five to 10 centimetres expected. Today’s high will reach -4 Celsius with an overnight low of -6 C.

Snow will continue into tomorrow with an additional five cm expected. Temperatures will rise to a high of -2 C and a low of – 6 C, with periods of snow expected overnight.

Snowfall amounts in the order of 10 to 15 cm are expected for the Coquihalla Highway and other high elevation mountain highways in the region.

Saturday will see mostly cloudy skies in the Okanagan with a high of -2 C and a low of -8 C.

Sekhon says colder air will push into the valley overnight Saturday, clearing skies for Sunday but dropping temperatures to a high of -4 C and a low of -14 C.

Monday, more snow is on the way, with a high of -5 C and a low of – 8 C.

On Tuesday, temperatures climb to 1 C under cloudy skies with a 30 per cent chance of snow overnight.

Sekhon says temperatures are expected to fluctuate towards the freezing mark or just above through the rest of the month, but below normal temperatures are anticipated into the final week of February.

Normal temperatures at this time of year in the Okanagan are highs of around 2 C and lows of about -5 C.

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