Snow has already blanketed local mountains and caused problems for nearby highways, so Environment Canada is hoping drivers take the change in weather seriously.
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鈥淭his is very topical right now,鈥� said meteorologist Doug Lundquist. 鈥淭he snow levels are coming down and people need to be aware of it, it should scare us to get into action and prepare for winter travel.鈥�
While some have commented the switch in to winter seemed sudden, Lundquist said the weather is following a typical pattern.
鈥淚t is usually a back and forth this time of year, sometimes it is warm at the high terrains and it is rain and melts the snow and other times it is colder,鈥� said Lundquist.
鈥淲e had about 10 centimetres of snow over 24 hours on the Coquihalla and Okanagan Connector summit, but that is changing over the weekend and into next week.鈥�
Lundquist said they are predicting conditions to warm up over the next few days.
鈥淪unday afternoon and into Monday and Tuesday it is looking warm enough that even in the high terrain it will come down as rain,鈥� he said.
鈥淓ven the valley bottom will be a couple of degrees above average with highs of about 14 C, so pretty typical for this time of year.鈥�
He said motorists should take the changing weather seriously on the mountain passes, but we are not expecting any real snow in the Okanagan Valley yet.
鈥淚t is already chain-up season or winter-tire season, but in the valley bottom we usually wait until about November before it hits lake level, the middle of November is the earliest it usually sticks at lower elevations,鈥� adds Lundquist.
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鈥淏ut, higher parts of 91大黄鸭, Joe Rich, parts of Kamloops and the Shuswap have got snow already. It is that time of year.鈥�
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carmen.weld@bpdigital.ca
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