Mountain Weather Forecast

A vigorous frontal system continues to pummel the northern Coast Mountains today and will gradually slump southwards tonight. The heaviest snowfall first targets an area from Bob Quinn (west of Highway 37) to Kitimat. Thanks to a stubborn interior ridge, snowfall is delayed for the interior and southern Coast Mountains. Areas to watch tonight and Thursday are the Rockies from Pine Pass to McBride, and the coast from Stewart to Strathcona Park, with honourable mention to the Cariboos.

Despite the frontal system's slow progression, it still has some juice left by the time it arrives in an area stretching from Vancouver Island to Blue River to Nakusp Thursday night. Expect more modest amounts, but the refresh will still be nice, especially on western-facing slopes where snowfall is enhanced by upslope flow. What's left of the front limps off the field (AKA out of BC) on Friday giving a dusting of snow to interior regions nearest the USA border.

A new frontal system makes landfall over northwestern BC on Friday, ushered in by northwesterly flow (also known as "riders flow"). Weather approaching from the northwest is usually accompanied by favourable freezing levels giving snow to or near sea level.

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The 500 mb animation shows an upper ridge over BC, redirecting a pacific weather system into northwestern BC today. Mountain ranges southeast of the ridge axis remain dry through late this week while a moderately long-duration precipitation event plays out over areas to the west. Strong southwesterly winds (tightly packed black geopotential lines) are forecast for the central & northern Coast Mountains and northern Rockies.

The weather system starts to run out of energy on Thursday as a cut-off low breaks away and heads for the California coast. Precipitation will still make it into the southern interior but the intensity will be much less, as denoted by the light green shading.

Over the weekend, an upper ridge of high pressure develops in the offshore waters west of California. This opens the door for the upper-level flow pattern to turn northwesterly over BC. Weather models often have trouble with the timing and intensity of weather systems approaching from this direction but the good news is freezing levels tend to be quite low and will favour low-elevation snowfall. For anyone looking to summit scenic peaks this weekend, be on the lookout for strong to very strong northwesterly or westerly winds which bring their own challenges when recreating.