By Canadian Press

Arctic cold descends over B.C., bringing snow and school closures

Feb 3, 2025 | 8:48 AM

VANCOUVER — A bitter cold spell sweeping over coastal and northern British Columbia has brought snow and prompted school and college closures.

Environment Canada has issued extreme-cold or arctic-outflow warnings for numerous areas in the province, saying wind-chill temperatures could drop to minus 45 in the north and reach minus 25 on the coast.

Several school districts in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley have closed public schools due to snow and poor road conditions, including Langley, Abbotsford, Mission and the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows District.

The University of B.C.’s main campus is shut to in-person learning, along with the B.C. Institute of Technology, University of the Fraser Valley campuses, Kwantlen Polytechnic’s Langley and Cloverdale campuses, and Capilano’s North Vancouver campus.

Environment Canada says an arctic air mass is bringing very strong outflow winds through to Wednesday and possibly later for inland regions.

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Snowfall warnings also remain up for parts of eastern and western Vancouver Island, the Southern Gulf Islands, Greater Victoria and the Sunshine Coast, forecasting snowsqualls and anywhere from five to 20 centimetres of snow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2025.

The Canadian Press