Grey skies have largely cleared across the mid-Island, offering up little chance for a typical winter snowfall in January. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

clear skies

Snow remaining noticeably absent in Nanaimo, despite frosty overnight temperatures

Jan 19, 2025 | 5:30 AM

NANAIMO — If current forecasts hold true, snow shovels could go unused on the mid-Island this winter.

A recent change in the weather pattern has brought largely clear skies to the mid-Island, ending a couple of weeks of gloomy conditions with on-again-off-again showers.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor said the winter battle between strong Pacific storms and bitter Arctic air has changed.

“Most of the energy of any approaching frontal systems right now is being directed up onto the north coast or the Alaska panhandle, so when we look at the forecast, really seeing a little bit of low cloud…and maybe trace amounts of precipitation.”

Overnight lows through much of the mid-Island have been a few degrees below freezing, and normal for this time of year.

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Despite the drop, Proctor said it was a “fairly normal” pattern, and a deviation of a few degrees either side of normal isn’t overly unexpected.

Long term forecasts are not detecting much in the way of a convergence between Pacific moisture and Arctic air, which would create typical conditions for an Island snowfall.

Forecasts from Environment Canada, The Weather Network and Accuweather all agree temperatures will maintain around the mid-single digits for daytime highs, with overnight lows at or just above freezing.

Accuweather’s forecast is predicting barely any precipitation at all for the rest of the month, something Proctor is also seeing in his models.

“We’ll maybe see a little bit more precipitation over the Rockies and east of there, but really in the inner south coast areas of British Columbia, it doesn’t look like it’ll have a tremendous impact upon us at this point in time.”

A rainy end to 2024 helped offset a growing rainfall deficit, with the region expected to move away from drought conditions in 2025.

January sees an average of 187.9 millimetres of rainfall in Nanaimo and 21 centimetres of snow, the second highest monthly precipitation total through the year behind November.

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