Weather change expected to bring safer driving conditions
By Nelson Daily Staff
by Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily
The weather has been miserable of late in the valley bottoms in the province as well as in the mountains but the worst may be over as a cold snap heading over the province should make for a change for the better.
“A cold air mass is going to tighten things up,” said weather forecaster Ron Lakeman at the South East Fire Centre in Castlegar.
Lakeman said temperatures are expected to fall heading into the weekend making the back country more friendly and the roads more passable. Lakeman estimates we’ll see lows in the minus-13 range in the alpine and minus-8 in the valleys.
“The Arctic air will be more or less confined to the East Kootenay.”
A severe storm that dumped of nearly 75 centimeters of the white stuff from three snowfalls the first of the week closed highways throughout the province, including the Kootenays, Wednesday while high winds in the alpine pushed the avalanche hazard to high.
After a long drought of snowfall, the last few days produced significant storms, noted public avalanche forecaster Matt Peter at Revelstoke’s Canadian Centre for Avalanche Control.
“Snowpack doesn’t react well to sudden change,” Peter told The Nelson Daily.
While not recommending travel in the alpine on Wednesday, Peter said the colder temperatures should quickly stabilize the snowpack.
“The mountains have pushed the reset button and we as travelers need to do that we well,” Peter explained.
“Travelers should take a cautious and measured approach in the back country and stay in tune with the most recent updates.
“Make sure you’re well equipped and know how to use it.”
He urged back country enthusiasts to “be curious” and dig into the snow before going to higher terrains.
Meanwhile, highways have gone from snow covered, to slushy and now bare in most areas as highway crews worked feverously to keep up with the snowfall.
The Kootenay Pass on Highway 3 east of Salmo was re-opened Wednesday morning after work crews at the summit performed avalanche controls.
“We’re doing really good,” said Hugh Eberle, District Operations Manager
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in Nelson.
Travel advisories were lifted early in the morning.
Eberle said the rain that began falling Wednesday afternoon made the highways slippery and slushy in some locations for trickier driving conditions.
“Just slow down, take extra time and check out the Drive BC website,” he advised.
Overall, the temperatures and snowpack are about normal for this time of year said Lakeman.
The forecast calls for no more storm systems this week and some sunshine on Friday.
Anyone travelling the province should check the Driver BC website at http://www.drivebc.ca/ to keep informed of the road conditions and avoid any major delays.
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