Last year, Vancouver residents faced unexpected amounts of snow. Photo Dan Toulgoet
Residents of British Columbia's south coast will have to keep their snow shovels handy after putting them to use — many for the first time this winter — over the weekend.
Just hours after Environment Canada lifted one snowfall warning for the region, a second has been issued as the weather office warns of "a long period of snowfall with total amounts of 10 to 15 centimetres expected."
Snow is forecast to arrive by the afternoon and continue into Tuesday morning across most of Vancouver Island including Victoria and the southern Gulf Islands, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver.
Meanwhile the bitter cold continues across Howe Sound and Whistler as arctic outflow winds create wind chill values near minus 20.
The BC Hydro website shows more than 3,000 customers remain without power, most of them on eastern Vancouver Island, but Hydro says crews are making steady progress following weekend storms, although challenging conditions are complicating efforts.
School districts in Nanaimo Ladysmith, Cowichan, the Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast are closed Monday and other districts are assessing the situation as up to 40 centimetres of snow in some regions, coupled with icy overnight conditions, makes travel treacherous.
