Major snowfall for mountain pass highways in Thompson-Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Winter appears to be reluctant to release it’s icy grip on the mountain pass highways in the Thompson-Okanagan.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement warning of 10 to 20 centimetres of snow by Monday morning.

Meteorologist Ross Macdonald says a strong front over Washington State combined with falling freezing levels will mean snow over the high elevation passes this afternoon and overnight, Sunday, March 15.

Up to 20 cm of snow will fall on the Okanagan Connector from Kelowna to Merritt and the Coquihalla Summit from Merritt to Hope. Highway 3 from Princeton to Hope through the Allison Pass is also forecast to get a dump of snow.

Macdonald says Highway 3 from the Paulson Summit to the Kootenay Pass will get the most snow, between 20 to 30 cm.

For the very latest road conditions check out the Drive B.C. website.

The latest forecasts and warnings can be found at 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.