Snow on southern Interior mountain passes and frost in Okanagan a possibility this weekend

OKANAGAN – Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist is cautioning motorists to prepare for winter driving conditions in the mountain passes this weekend as a significant change in the weather takes place.

Lundquist says a low pressure system from the north is expected to bring a sharp drop in temperatures along with a strong possibility of snow falling on mountain passes over beginning tomorrow, Sept. 26.

Saturday night could see temperatures drop to 0 Celsius in the valley bottoms in the Okanagan with a strong possibility of frost.

“Anyone planning travel to the coast or Alberta should get their winter tires on today,” Lundquist says.

“It’s an unstable air mass with cold air. If a cell were to land over one of the mountain passes there could be quite a dump of snow over the next two days. People need to be prepared,” he says.

In the Okanagan today, Sept. 26, the forecast calls for the rain showers to end this morning followed by clearing skies and winds becoming northwest at 20 km/h gusting to 40. Today’s high should reach 16 C in Vernon and Kelowna and 18 C in Penticton, with an overnight low of 7 C in all three cities.

Environment Canada is calling for a mainly cloudy tomorrow with a 40 per cent chance of showers in Kelowna and a 60 per cent chance of rain in Vernon and Penticton with snow levels dropping to 1,400 metres in the morning. Northwest winds at 40 km/h should diminish to 20 near noon tomorrow with a high of 12 C in Vernon and Kelowna, 13 C in Penticton and an overnight low in all three cities of 1 C.

It’s expected to be sunny, cool and windy on the weekend with highs around 10 C both days. The low overnight Saturday could drop to 0 C, with a low of 2 C forecast for Sunday.

Temperatures warm up a little on Monday with a high of 15 C expected under sunny skies.

Normal temperatures at this time of year in the Okanagan are highs of 17 C and lows of 5 C.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.