The Metro Vancouver weather forecast includes a long stretch of rain before we might see some sunshine and nearly summer-like heat.
Before the sun starts shining, V.I.A.'s Downtown Centre Weatherhood station in Vancouver shows a high of 8 C with an overnight low of 4 C and as much as 20 mm of rain on Friday, March 8.
The rainy weather is expected to continue through the weekend, with Saturday expected to receive as much as 26 mm of precipitation and Sunday as much as 21 mm.
Environment Canada Meteorologist Armel Castellan told V.I.A. that freezing levels may stay a bit lower through the weekend, replenishing the previously depleted snow banks in local mountains. However, they won't dip low enough for places at lower elevations to see any snowfall.
The Lower Mainland will see "pulses of showers" and heavy bouts of rainfall through the weekend and heading into next week, he explained.
The warm, moist Pacific system should produce a final rain event on Monday with "the intensity back up" before it dissipates to showers overnight. Rainfall amounts of up to 30 mm are possible.
Metro Vancouver weather forecast includes a shift to double-digit highs
There is a chance of showers on Monday or Tuesday but temperatures are expected to hit double-digit highs on these days.
After what felt like another two weeks of winter, it will be a "widespread sunny warm spread," Castellan said, characterizing it as the "unofficial kick-off to spring."
By Thursday, the region should see a "sharp deviation" to temperatures soaring into the mid to late teens.
Temperatures in the mid to late teens are expected to continue through the week, reaching at least 15 C but may climb closer to 20 C over the weekend.
While temperatures will be significantly above the seasonal average (just over 10 C), they will have to soar quite high to break records. For example, late March has seen temperatures climb as high as 19.4 C, Castellan described.
Environment Canada expects April and May will be warmer than average, meaning that more heat may be possible in the weeks to come.
Stay up-to-date with hyperlocal forecasts across 50 neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland with V.I.A.'s Weatherhood.
