Heavy snow fell for several hours on Tuesday, blanketing downtown Victoria streets and making roads a challenge.
Flights were cancelled and delayed at Harbour Air, Helijet and Victoria International Airport Tuesday afternoon.
Treacherous driving conditions had some businesses closing up shop and sending staff home early, including CFB Esquimalt, Camosun College and Vancouver Island University.
READ MORE: Environment Canada issues snow, wind and storm warnings on the Island
The situation was even worse in Nanaimo where five to 10 centimetres fell during the day.
There was a three-vehicle crash at Hammond Bay Road and Rutherford Road after a driver slid down the hill and into the intersection. Nobody was seriously injured.
“Road conditions are very bad, very slick, snow is quite fluffy but it’s compacting quite a bit so it’s making it very dangerous to be on the roads,” said Mark Walker with Nanaimo Fire Rescue.
Schools were open but slippery side roads meant many parents kept their kids home anyway.
“I don’t know how they expect parents to get out of their roads to get their kids to school when there’s been no plowing done at all, so I kept all four of mine home today,” said Nanaimo parent Taylor Patterson.
With nearly the entire island expecting as much as 30cm of snow overnight there’s a good chance for a snow day Wednesday.
“The forecast is a little bleak looks like lots of snow tonight and I can’t predict what will happen in the morning,” Nanaimo-Ladysmith School Superintendent Scott Saywell said Tuesday afternoon.
Highway and municipal crews were out salting roads trying to prepare for what’s to come.
“We will have crews out tonight, all night, working on those priority ones and when we can we’ll move into those residential areas, and ultimately our third priority is cul-de-sacs and dead ends,” said John Elliot, Director of Public Works for the City of Nanaimo.
While some parts of Vancouver Island, like the Comox Valley, still had green grass and dry roads on Tuesday, there is likely no escaping the next blast of winter.
April Lawrence
