Storm after storm after storm brought upwards of 18 inches of snow to the mid-Island either side of Christmas. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

WARM UP

Arctic air abating over eastern Vancouver Island, providing brief break from snow dumps

Dec 30, 2021 | 4:56 PM

NANAIMO — A final gut punch from Mother Nature has come and gone, with a last dump of snow for the year.

A snowfall warning for Wednesday, Dec. 29 had forecast five to 10 centimetres of snow for the region. However, most places saw closer to 15 centimetres adding to the already high snowbanks.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor said a significant December snowfall, like we’ve experienced over the last week, is a notable departure from the norm.

“It’s not normal for us to experience these long duration snowfall events we’ve seen in the Nanaimo area over the past five days, but it is not atypical either.”

The Nanaimo region bore the brunt of a multi-day system that dumped layer upon layer of snow.

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According to citizen-run monitoring stations inside Nanaimo city limits, between 57.9 and 86.1 centimetres of snow fell in various parts of the city between Dec. 23 to Dec. 30.

Surrounding areas such as Fanny Bay, Duncan, parts of the Lower Mainland along with Environment Canada’s monitoring station at Nanaimo Airport reported upwards of 40 centimetres over the same time period.

The situation was made more intense for eastern Vancouver Island due to the nature of the system.

Proctor said arctic outflows came to the Island from the southern Interior and picked up moisture from the Strait of Georgia before unloading over the Island.

Snow and rain forecast for early 2022 will see a return of more normal winter weather activity.

“We’ve had this northwest flow…persisting for quite a period of time and it’s beginning to wane a little bit, the cold air is weakening over the southern interior of B.C. so that outflow, the arctic air is abating slowly.”

Rain or snow is expected to begin in the evening hours of New Year’s Eve, turn to snow overnight and throughout much of New Years Day, before returning to rain for Sunday, Jan. 2.

Current forecast models suggest temperatures may drop back down towards freezing as the first full week of January unfolds.

“The arctic air is just pulsing or waning over the southern Interior, it looks like it might freshen and deepen as we move into the first week of January, so we start seeing a little more potential for more snow coming in at that point in time.”

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alex@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley