Snowstorm forecasted to hit Peace region on Monday

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A snowstorm is forecasted to hit the Peace region on Monday and Tuesday, according to Environment Canada. 

The snowstorm is expected to bring flurries of two to ten centimetres of snow. 

Although snowfall is finally making its way to the region, the possibility of a white Christmas shouldn’t be celebrated just yet, according to meteorologist Derek Lee. 

“After the snowstorm, it looks like temperatures are still fluctuating, and we can expect them to rise above zero as well,” said Lee. 

“Depending on how much snow we get on Monday and Tuesday, if we stay on that warmer trend by the end of the week leading up to Christmas, some of that will have melted by then.”

Because the region is currently experiencing the El Niño phenomenon, Lee says Fort St. John has only seen approximately one to two of the 22 millimetres of snow the area usually receives in December. 

“It’s barely a small percentage of what we would usually expect for the month of December,” said Lee. 

“If you took half of that data, there would have been at least ten millimetres so far.”

Surprisingly, Chetwynd is the only area in the region to break a record this month. 

“On December 13th, Chetwynd reached a high of 9.6 degrees Celsius on that day,” said Lee.

“The previous extreme was 8.6 degrees in 1989.”

Lee says although there is a lesser probability of frigid temperatures in the minus 30s and 40s, he “wouldn’t rule out that there’s no cold air coming down just because of the El Niño.”

“I think it’s fair to say that it can happen because that’s just what the weather does.”

Sunday is expected to reach a high of three degrees with an overnight low of one degree. Monday’s forecast is a high of one degree and an overnight low of minus seven degrees.

Peace region residents can stay up-to-date on current and forecasted weather conditions by heading to Environment Canada’s website.