Keep your warm clothing on deck this week.
The Vancouver weather forecast calls for plenty of near record-breaking overnight lows and opportunities for snowfall, too.
An Arctic ridge of high pressure over the B.C. interior is bringing strong and bitterly cold outflow winds to Metro Vancouver, Environment Canada stated in a recent weather alert.
Starting on Tuesday (Dec. 28), the forecast calls for an overnight low of -10°C that will feel more like -17°C with wind chill. The mercury is expected to drop even further on Wednesday, with temperatures feeling more like -18°C with windchill early in the morning. The daily high is expected to be -5°C with an overnight low of -5°C.
Heavy snowfall is also expected beginning Wednesday evening. Total amounts of 5 to 10 cm are expected, with greater amounts expected inland and at places at higher elevations.
"Visibility may be impacted in heavy snow and quickly accumulating snow may make travel difficult," warns Environment Canada.
The snowfall is expected to continue through Thursday morning and into the afternoon. Thursday night is expected to be clear but cold, with an overnight low of -9°C.
Heading into the weekend, Friday is forecasted to be sunny during the day and cloudy at night. However, Saturday is expected to see snowfall throughout the day. Sunday's forecast includes snow or rain.
Metro Vancouver weather forecast
Wondering what kind of weather to expect in the Lower Mainland over the rest of the winter?
While this season may be colder than average, Environment Canada Meteorologist Bobby Sekhon tells Vancouver Is Awesome in a telephone interview that every winter offers the possibility for extreme weather events, regardless of the long-term forecast.
Have a look at Environment Canada's long-term winter forecast for the Metro Vancouver region.
With files from Brendan Kergin.
