Driving on Highway 3 early next week may be ‘dicey,’ meteorologist says

Small amounts of snow are expected throughout the Thompson Okanagan this weekend and there may be enough snowfall to issue a warning for travellers using Highway 3 into next week.

“There’s a system moving in through the Central Interior, that will start slumping down tonight, so we are expecting flurries and showers tonight in the Thompson and Okanagan,” said Derek Lee, meteorologist with Environment Canada.

The Okanagan will get two to four centimetres of wet snow, he said, while the Thompson region can expect two cm tonight and then another two to four cm tomorrow. Both regions will be cloudy tomorrow, Nov. 21, and Monday.

Highway 3 – the only connection to the Lower Mainland after mudslides caused the closures of Highways 1 and 5 – is expected to be cloudy tonight and will receive two cm of snow tomorrow.

“We’re lucky Highway 3 is further down south closer to the border,” Lee said.

But after that conditions on Highway 3 could get “dicey,” he said.

“Monday overnight we will have a stronger system pushing into the Interior which will bring more substantial precipitation for much of southern B.C.”

Lee predicts the Allison Pass area will get up to five cm, while the area near the Kootenay pass “is currently showing a lot more snow” with a forecasted range of 10 to 20 cm.

The criteria for Environment Canada to issue a snowfall warning is 15 cm, he said.

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