By Dylana Milobar

Winter blast brings more snow than expected to Kamloops area

Dec 29, 2018 | 8:12 AM

KAMLOOPS — Yesterday’s (Dec. 28) winter weather surpassed expectations, as around 12 centimetres of snow (measured at the Kamloops Airport) blanketed Kamloops and the surrounding region.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Chris Emond says the amount of snow Kamloops saw yesterday was higher than the expected 5-10 centimetres.

“In fact, Kamloops had more than some of the surrounding areas,” Emond explains, “More than the Coquihalla Summit. Helmer only had a few centimetres as well, Walloper maybe 8 centimetres, Pennask Summit, even only 6 centimetres, so it looks like Kamloops had one of the higher snowfall amounts around in the area.”

For today, he says this afternoon is expected to warm up and bring some showers to Kamloops, with a few brief bursts of snowfall.

“We probably have a good chance of the snow sticking around. Like I said, it may get up to plus 3 or so today, but after that we’re going to be close to zero or below zero,” He says, “For Sunday night, we’ve got a low of minus 7, so if theres still some slush and mess around, it could get some solid ice there.”

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As for the Coquihalla conditions, Emond says the highway is expected to get mostly rain, with snow coming down near the summitt.

“I wouldn’t be too surprised to see right near the summit, if they picked up 5 or 10 centimetres over a few hours. And then it should end later this evening.”

Up to 30 centimetres of snow is expected for some regions as the storm crosses the province, while travel on Highway 1 from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass is expected to be particularly treacherous for drivers before conditions ease later today (Dec. 29).

For updated conditions and alerts, check out Environment Canada’s website here.