Highways have closed and ferry services are being cancelled, due to a snowstorm in the BC interior.
As of this morning, 56 cm of snow has already hit the Coquihalla Highway, according to Environment Canada.
Road conditions have already resulted in one fatality last night, a 30-year-old woman, on Highway 3. The incident happened near the Paulson Bridge, in the Kootenays region.
The highway was closed Friday morning, in both directions.
The Coquihalla Highway also closed northbound between Hope and Merritt because of a vehicle accident Friday morning.
UPDATE – #BCHwy3A – Vehicle incident has the highway down to single lane alternating traffic at Kokanee Glacier road between #NelsonBC and #BelfourBC.
Crews are on scene. Expect some delays. Next update : 10:00 AM
More info: https://t.co/bFgHO2vQAQ— DriveBC (@DriveBC) December 20, 2019
While Environment Canada warned of 30-60 cm of snow by the weekend, DriveBC says there will be 70-80 cm of extra snow on the Coquihalla highway.
DriveBC also reported, “an atmospheric river brought by copious amounts of precipitation in the form of rain and snow to southern B.C.”
Meanwhile, BC Ferries cancelled routes on Thursday, due to high winds. While some sailings had been cancelled, others were delayed by up to half-hour.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is of primary importance to us,” said BC Ferries in their update. “We don’t take the decision to cancel sailings lightly, as we know customers rely on us to get to their destinations.”
This came after warnings of high winds in the greater Victoria area. Environment Canada predicted Vancouver Island would see up to 150 mm of rain this week.
For more B.C. news, check out our News section.
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