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Central Okanagan  

Slush will freeze tomorrow

Local Environment Canada Meteorologist Doug Lundquist has a stern warning to clean the roads and sidewalks before the leftover snow freezes solid, starting tomorrow.

“Be prepared for some real cold (weather),” says Lundquist. “My big concern is that if you are in a neighbourhood that still has snow or junk on the roads or sidewalks, you need to clear the roads. It will freeze really quickly and if this slush freezes it will be ice cubes and that is not easy or safe to drive on.”

Lundquist says a cold snap warning has been issued for the Okanagan that could see temperatures dip below -10 degrees Celsius.

“We have a low pressure system that's gonna develop and move off into Alberta overnight tonight and tomorrow, which is going to leave nothing to stop the arctic air from moving down here,” explains Lundquist. “The arctic front will move through sometime Friday and the temperatures will really plummet.”

He does not believe this cold snap will last as long as the previous one that had wineries picking ice wine grapes at record early times.

“Already by the middle of next week we are getting a flow from the west and it looks to bring milder air which will bring us back to norms for this time of year which is about zero degrees,” says Lundquist.

As for snow predictions for the season to come, Lundquist says snow is nearly impossible to predict.

“Snow is not something we can predict reliably beyond a week. All we need is one storm like we had and it will be a completely different story,” explains Lundquist. “We can give you a prediction sometime for temperatures but for precipitation we really can't predict beyond a week."

He does say though that snow may be falling again by the end of next week.

“It would be a more typical snowfall amount for this time of year and it would be drier snow,” says Lundquist.



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