Despite May long weekend being the ‘unofficial start of summer’, travellers should be prepared for winter conditions on four B.C. highways.
As forecasted by Environment Canada, there is a fresh layer of snow on the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt and the Okanagan Connector from Merritt to West Kelowna on Friday morning, May 17.
A special weather statement remains in effect for those two highways as well as the Coquihalla from Merritt and Kamloops and Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton as 2-5 centimetres of snow is expected from now until Saturday morning.
While temperatures warm throughout Friday, the snow will to change to rain, but flurries are expected to return during the night, according to Environment Canada.
“An upper low will bring a cool airmass to higher elevations of the B.C. Interior today and into this long weekend,” Environment Canada states. “Colder air along with precipitation means the mountain passes are seeing some snow now.”
❄️#BCHwy5 Snowfall in progress for the #Coquihalla, as well as neighbouring routes such as the #OkanaganConnector #BCHwy97C.
🏔️Watch for changing road & weather conditions, and reduce your speed. #Merritt #HopeBC pic.twitter.com/M6fw9uzdCB
— DriveBC (@DriveBC) May 17, 2024
Because of this, travellers should be prepared for winter conditions as weather can change rapidly in the mountains, causing hazardous driving conditions.
Additionally, BC Highway Patrol will be conducting enhanced impaired driving enforcements throughout the long weekend and summer months.
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