Get ready for some ugly road conditions at higher elevations in southern Interior

While temperatures in valley bottoms are expected to be relatively balmy for the next few days, driving in higher elevations could be tricky as a warm front moves into the southern Interior.

“For higher terrain, it means a real mix of snow turning to freezing rain at times and perhaps a mix of rain and snow, all the way from tonight towards the Coquihalla through to early next week,” Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist told iNFOnews.ca, Nov. 10.

“It’s just a very active, nasty pattern for the high elevation travellers."

The warm front coming through the region will bring unseasonably warm temperatures – in the 6 Celsius to 10 C range during the days and 2 C to 6 C at night.

“The overnight lows are what our normal daytime highs are for this time of year,” Lundquist said.

The daytime highs are likely to come during sunny breaks in what will most often be cloudy and rainy skies. If clearing happens at night, there’s a risk of black ice near the valley bottoms, he said.

READ MORE: 'No zoomy zoom on the slicky slick or you'll go boom boom': Merritt RCMP

But the real problems will be in the mountain passes.

There were 30 to 35 centimetres of snow forecast for parts of the Coquihalla Highway Tuesday night. The official forecast called for two more centimetres of snow from Hope to Merritt yesterday, periods of snow with 2 to 4 cm last night then rain – possibly freezing rain – beginning early in the afternoon today, Thursday.

“Check Drive B.C. and check our forecasts and don’t head out with the wrong equipment on your car,” Lundquist cautioned.

Go to Drive B.C. here for the latest driving conditions in B.C.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, 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. 

Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics

More Articles