Vancouver residents woke up to a fresh blanket of snow Saturday morning.
The first real snowfall of 2021 is expected to bring a total of up to 10 centimetres of accumulation to the region throughout the day, with flurries set to ease off later this afternoon. That could rival, or even surpass, the snowiest Feb. 13 recorded in Vancouver (at least in the years spanning from 1939 to 2013), when 8.9 cm fell over the city in 1944. More snow—amounting to up to five cm— is expected to fall over the Lower Mainland on Sunday, according to Environment Canada's forecast.
Saturday's snow comes following a week of unusually chilly temperatures in Metro Vancouver, courtesy of an Arctic outflow. It's the result of an approaching frontal system that collided with the aforementioned Arctic front along Vancouver Island, meaning even areas like Victoria, Tofino and Ucluelet received more than their fair share of flakes today.
Though Vancouverites aren't stereotypically known to thrive in harsh winter conditions, a few centimetres of sticky white snow was enough to turn the city into a winter wonderland, making for an exciting start to B.C.'s Family Day long weekend for many. As such, more than a few locals couldn't resist capturing the rare snowy scenes and sharing the images to Instagram.
We've rounded up a few of our favourites below.
As always, we love seeing our favourite city through your eyes. Make sure to include the hashtag #vancouverisawesome with your posts so we can find them!
