The coldest bout of winter weather has probably come and gone in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Last week, an artic outflow rocked the region leading to extremely frigid temperatures.
Meteorologist Chris Doyle says while another cold snap could hit the area early next month, it will likely be much milder.
“An artic outbreak in early March is a little different than an Arctic outbreak in early February,” said Doyle.
“There is a longer day length, you know, temperatures just don’t get that cold,” he continued.
Doyle says they expect the rain and milder temperatures seen over the past few days to continue for the rest of February.
“We switched from, sort of an Arctic airflow regime, which brings us the cold air from the interior to more of a westerly flow, the origin of the air is off the Pacific, It’s wetter, it’s milder.”
Snowpack concerns
After an extremely dry start to the year, the B.C. River Forecast Centre said snowpack levels measured 28 per cent below normal at the start of February – the lowest since 1988.
Hydrologist Jonathan Boyd says while more precipitation is in the forecast for parts of the province over the next few weeks, it might not make much of a difference.
“It’s unlikely we’ll get back to normal levels by April,” he said.
Boyd says the lack of snowpack can be both good and bad for potential natural disasters.
“With most regions below normal, the risk for flooding is lower,” he said
“That of course increases the potential for drought situations to be more likely in the summertime, and often associated with droughts are wildfires,” he continued.
Boyd says with the dry winter, getting sufficient levels of precipitation in the spring and early summer could be crucial to avoid a potentially extreme wildfire season.
He points to 2023, the most destructive season in B.C.’s history, which like this year, was a La Nina year.
“La Nina years often means a cooler spring,” he said
“But two years ago, May was one of our hottest ever, and that was really the catalyst.”
