More snow on horizon after major winter blast

The first major blast of winter hit the Metro Vancouver region Sunday. Residents throughout Vancouver woke up to several centimetres of snow and a snowfall warning of more on the way.

“The low pressure system continues its trek across the South Coast,” read the warning Environment Canada issued for Sunday afternoon. “In the wake of the low, northeast outflow winds will collide with northwest winds from the Strait of Georgia. Where they meet, a localized band of heavy snow will develop and push through Metro Vancouver this evening for further localized accumulations of five centimetres.”

West and North Vancouver and Coquitlam, which are at higher elevations, will continue to see a further five centimetres possible, while Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster will see rain mixed with wet snow. Richmond, Delta, Tsawwassen and Ladner will continue to see rain.

A number of power outages due to snow conditions or trees falling on wires affected 3,528 customers in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast on Sunday morning, but that number lowered to 2,013 as of 3 p.m. Several outages on the South Coast were also confirmed.

On the north end of Vancouver Island, about 5,293 customers lost power in the afternoon.

B.C. Ferries also cancelled the majority of its sailings Sunday because of the adverse weather conditions and high winds. Affected routes included Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay (Victoria); Tsawwassen-Duke Point (Nanaimo); Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay (Nanaimo); Horseshoe Bay-Langdale (Sunshine Coast); Powell River-Texada; Nanaimo Harbour-Gabriola and Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands.

Port McNeill-Alert Bay-Sointula cancelled four of its sailings, but resumed service in the mid-afternoon. Other sailings operated on modified schedules.

Also Sunday morning, some TransLink routes were detoured due to road conditions. Those included the R1 Newton Exchange and R1 Guildford Exchange, the 10 Downtown and the R5 Burrard Station/SFU. Shuttles were put in place for the R1 and R5, while the 10 was detouring.

“We continue to salt and sand bus loops and SkyTrain stations, but please use caution in these areas and remember to dress warmly in anticipation of potential delays,” read an alert posted to the TransLink website.