Snowfall likely on Vancouver Island next week
Weather on Vancouver Island has been pretty varied this November, and it looks like we’ll bookend the month with some snow, even in Greater Victoria.
While we’ve just enjoyed a really nice week with some great temperatures and conditions interrupting the rain activity, that will all change for the last week of the month.
Get ready for an Arctic air push that will take us into at least the first five days of December. If you need to point fingers of blame then look to Greenland and Siberia.
Usually when we talk about a ridge of high pressure it’s positive, and we like what we see, but this time around those ridges do us no favours.
A strong ridge set up around Greenland will become a blocker and will create a little bit of a traffic jam of cold Arctic air. To the west, we’ll pull in a lot of cold air from a Siberian polar vortex thanks to a ridge setting up over Alaska.
That cold air will blanket most of the country, and for Vancouver Island and B.C. a drop to well-below seasonal temperatures will take over.
A long range forecast looking into the week of Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, 2022, is shown. (CTV News)
Of course, it’s still autumn and that means moisture. We’ve had some nice rain this month but with this introduction of cold Arctic air our chances of snow rises big time.
We’re still going to get moisture moving into the province from the Pacific, but as it runs into the cold Arctic air we’ll go from rain to snow.
Even at sea level we’re looking to get into snowball manufacturing. Obviously higher elevations and locations up island will see more snowfall, but expect it to be spread throughout all island areas at some point.
A long range forecast looking into the week of Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, 2022, is shown. (CTV News)
I’m circling Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to be the snowier days. While areas around the water will see more of a rain/snow mix, any precipitation falling during the night and early morning will be on the snow side of things.
It’s hard to nail down numbers at this point but as you can see on the accumulation map at the top of the article, we’ll see some noteworthy numbers, ranging from as low as one centimetre in the Comox area to up to eight centimetres in the Victoria region.
It should be noted that this particular model has a habit of overestimating snowfall totals, but I’d put Greater Victoria in the three to five centimetre range over the two-day period. High elevations could easily see double digits.
All the ingredients are there and the potential is high, but at the same time our 'snow soufflé' may collapse when we take it out of the oven and we get more rain than snow.
It’ll be a day by day and hour by hour scenario to watch. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A 'tragedy that can't be measured': North Bay's forever chemical problem is also the rest of Canada's
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Bouchard lifts Edmonton Oilers to 4-3 overtime win over Canucks in Game 2
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
opinion How to use your credit card as a powerful wealth-building tool
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Questlove was not happy with Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef: 'Nobody won the war'
While some may have been excited and/or amused by the diss-track feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the man many consider to be an elder statesman of hip-hop appears less than enthused about it.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.