An Arctic blast for Christmas

The last few days have served notice that the North Coast is set to enjoy a bit of a blast of winter, with cold temperatures and occasional snow to make the next few days an interesting experience.

And while Rupertites may grumble a bit about the less than usual temperature ranges, the high pressure system and Arctic blast that will bring us the cold temperatures, will make things even more frozen once you move beyond Rainbow Summit.

Environment Canada has issued an Arctic Outflow Warning for the Inland sections of the North Coast. Where strong northeasterly winds associated with an Arctic front over the North Coast will produce windchill values of -20 to -25 degrees into early next week.

The cold weather, while bringing very cold windchill values of -17 on Saturday night for Prince Rupert, most likely reduces the chances of a large volume of snow for the coastal sections over the short term.

There is the chance of flurries through to Saturday, and on to Sunday where the opportunity for what Environment Canada calls periods of snow will arrive just before Christmas Eve on Monday.

All of which may make travel eastbound interesting at times and for those that may be heading out to test out some new ski wear, or take a turn on a frozen lake, bundling up would seem to be something to keep in mind in the short term.

We return to above freezing temperatures by Christmas Day, with highs progressing towards 3 degrees by  Thursday.

You can keep up to date on any changes to the forecast from the Environment Canada website and for those travelling along Highway 16 over the holidays, Drive BC has updates regularly as well as Highway camera footage of conditions on their website.