Around 10 centimetres of snow is expected through Nanaimo beginning late Friday night. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

WINTER WATCH

Snow, frigid winds expected throughout Nanaimo throughout long weekend

Feb 12, 2021 | 11:36 AM

NANAIMO — A Vancouver Island winter, largely devoid of any substantial snowfall is preparing for a brief blast.

A storm tracking off the Pacific coast is forecast to make landfall over southern Vancouver Island Friday night and open up a parade of snow and rain for the foreseeable future.

Armel Castellan, meteorologist with Environment Canada, told NanaimoNewsNOW the region is due to be on the receiving end of strong winds followed by a decent dump of snow over the first half of the long weekend.

“Particularly overnight you’ll see those southeast winds maybe gusting to 50 kilometres per hour…then the moisture comes and meets the cold and that’s when things get messy.”

Most forecast models are predicting around 10 centimetres of snow for the Nanaimo region, with slightly less throughout Oceanside.

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Victoria and the Malahat are expected to get the brunt of the storm, making highway driving on the south Island particularly challenging.

“It’s going to be mostly Friday night into Saturday around noon and then it will start to taper off in the afternoon. There’s going to be a big difference from say Lantzville to the Nanaimo airport.”

Castellan said arctic air is forecast to give way on Monday, leading to a rapid melt as temperatures rise and rain falls.

“Monday morning could still be a snow pulse, not just a pure rain pulse. We will have to adjust that one on Sunday in order to be totally sure, it will all depend on the intensity of that system…the more intense it is the better the chances [of snow].

A snowfall warning was published for the Nanaimo and Oceanside regions on Friday, Feb. 12 ahead of the pending storm.

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