Metro Vancouver forecast calls for rain, not snow

Snow officially fell in the Fraser Valley Friday afternoon, but now the big question is: will snow fall in Metro Vancouver anytime soon?

1130 NewsRadio Meteorologist Michael Kuss has some good news.

“[There is] really no risk of snow for any neighborhood around Metro Vancouver, even the higher elevation neighborhoods, and we’re talking all the way up to Burnaby Mountain,” Kuss said.

” In fact, it’s going to be, through the afternoon on Saturday and potentially with some showers on the way for Sunday, more rain than snow even up over those North Shore ski hills.”

In order for snow to hit us, he says, there would have to be a change in current weather patterns, with arctic air coming from the north.

“What we’re seeing is the track of the lows that are mainly staying offshore to the west of Vancouver Island,” he said.

“And of course, that’s warm air pushing across the area, and that keeps us not only above freezing down to sea level, but above seasonal.”

Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning Friday for the Fraser Valley, including Hope, with five centimetres expected to fall over that area.

It’s been a wet winter so far in Metro Vancouver, with the weather agency saying 2024 was the wettest year in Vancouver this century. Kuss says Metro Vancouver has seen above-normal precipitation over the past five months. December was a particularly wet month, he says, with 20 millimetres more rain than average.

For other parts of B.C., 2024 was warmest, driest year yet

This is in stark contrast to some other areas of the province, with Environment Canada saying a number of communities saw their warmest and driest years yet in 2024.

Among those on the list were Kamloops, Vernon, and Kelowna.

Northeastern B.C. was also hit with severe dryness, including Fort Nelson — the hub of wildfire activity last year.

Lionel Pandolfo, a geoscience professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, says weather overall is evolving due to climate change.

“What we’ve seen is more extreme conditions,” Pandolfo said.

“So when it’s dry, it lasts longer and more intense.”

He adds that the change also brings more rain when storms hit, as evidenced in Vancouver in 2024.

With files from Angelyna Mintz.

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