Busy B.C. travel weekend ahead with sun expected to roll in by Easter Sunday
Posted March 28, 2024 7:13 am.
Last Updated March 28, 2024 8:17 am.
There are warnings for a busy travel weekend ahead, whether you’re on the road, on the water, or in the air.
Road-trippers, family vacationers, and even baseball fans will all be on the move in and around the Lower Mainland as spring break wraps up for most B.C. public schools, coinciding with the Easter long weekend.
To add to the bustle, there is also a four-game, MLB season-opening series for the Seattle Mariners against the Boston Red Sox just south of the border.
It all adds up to the potential for busier than usual border crossings, highways, ferry terminals, and airports, with multiple warnings issued to expect delays.
Listen to CityNews 1130 LIVE now!ICBC says drivers should use extra caution on the roads over the next few days, reminding drivers that weather can be unpredictable around Easter and winter tires are still mandatory on the province’s highways.
The insurer adds the upcoming long weekend typically sees an average of one death and 570 people injured in nearly 2,200 crashes on B.C. roads.
Vancouver International Airport is also asking you to be ready for crowds, as it expects around 292,000 passengers to travel through YVR’s domestic and international terminals over the holiday weekend.
BC Ferries warns travellers should have already booked in advance over the long weekend if they want to avoid waits.
“Peak travel times will be Thursday, Friday, and Sunday afternoon as well as Monday morning. Customers without a booking will face multiple sailing waits and may not be able to travel. Consider booking and travelling as a foot passenger or during less busy times of the day to avoid sailing waits,” the corporation said in a release.
Long weekend weather is a mixed bag
If you are travelling outside Metro Vancouver over the next few days, CityNews Meteorologist Michael Kuss suggests you might want to pack for a wide range of conditions.
“If you’re heading east, you could be running into some of that active weather that we saw slice through the Lower Mainland over the last 24 hours — showers, possible thunderstorms through Thursday into the Okanagan and around the Thompson region,” Kuss said.
“And the freezing level is coming down so we will likely see some snow over the tops of the mountain passes — the Coquihalla, the Connector — but there’s a nice improvement after that.”
Kuss says the region should see sunshine and temperatures rising into the mid-to-upper-teens by the end of the long weekend in B.C.’s central Interior.
“If you’re heading across the border to take in the Mariners – Red Sox series, the roof will be closed at T-Mobile Park for sure tonight with unsettled, chilly weather only at 10 or 11 degrees with showers on and off.
“But it starts to clear up into Friday with a pretty good-looking long weekend around Seattle. We’ll see temperatures in the 14 to 16 or 17-degree range under a partly sunny sky all the way through Monday.”
Kuss predicts southern Vancouver Island and Victoria will also start off soggy on Thursday, but clear up for sunny and warm conditions through most of the long weekend.
For the Lower Mainland, Kuss says showers could linger in the region into Friday morning, but will clear by the afternoon.
“After that almost all sun from Saturday through Monday. It won’t be sweltering, just nice, warm Spring weather. Highs will be a couple of degrees above normal hitting mid-teens around the Lower Mainland.
“With the clear sky, the morning lows will be a little cool down near 1 or 2 degrees Saturday and Easter Sunday mornings.”
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