Arctic air arriving and snow leaving Thompson-Okanagan; winter driving on the highways

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The promised cold Arctic air arrives in the Thompson-Okanagan Sunday as the last of the snow falls.

The mercury started to drop Sunday morning and will bottom out at around -12 C in the Okanagan and -15 C in the South Thompson by overnight Monday.

A strong ridge of high pressure from the Yukon is to blame for the frigid temperatures. The Arctic air associated with the ridge will lower temperatures to around 10 degrees below season normal values, according to a special weather statement updated by Environment Canada Sunday morning.

The silver lining to the cold temperatures will be the end to the snowfall and the sunshine forecast for Tuesday.

Vernon received over 12 centimetres of snow on Saturday, the most in the region, with another couple expected on Sunday. About four cm of the white stuff fell in Penticton Saturday, compared with five cm in Kamloops and a measly one cm in Kelowna.

The fresh snow means highways are in winter driving condition with compact snow, slushy and slippery sections throughout, according to Drive B.C.

For the very latest on highway conditions go to Drive B.C.’s website and for weather forecasts and alerts go to Environment Canada’s website.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.