Parts of Vancouver Island experience snowy Christmas Eve, more expected this weekend in Greater Victoria

Just in time for Santa’s arrival, snow touched down on many parts of northern Vancouver Island.

Many communities woke to a blanket of snow, including Campbell River, Nanaimo and Union Bay.

As a result, the snow made for a busy night and morning for plowing crews.

“It’s about as busy as we get. We have our entire fleet out and we have a number of subcontractors out as well,” says Chris Cowley with Mainroad North Island Contracting.

Along the Malahat, snow made for wet road conditions for drivers heading out on Christmas Eve. In Victoria, however, there was no snow on lawns Friday morning but overnight Environment Canada says we may see some flurries.

“Sort of a mixture of rain and snow showers and as we progress through the day on Saturday, sort of wet flurries through the morning hours and then snow beginning by mid to late afternoon and continuing through much of the day on Boxing Day,” says Brian Proctor, a Meteorologist with Environment Canada.

25 years ago, Victoria had its snowiest year on record with 153 centimetres falling in a span of eight days. The city was shut down and many people were snowed in.

Next week, temperatures are expected to cool on the South Island with overnight lows between -8 and -10 degrees Celsius.

“It’s going to be a lot colder than what most people are definitely used to,” says Proctor.

The City of Victoria’s Public Works crew says they’re more than ready.

“Today, we’ve got eight trucks lined up all fully prepped, full of salt, with plows. We have a dozen staff on standby ready to come in as soon as we give them a call,” says Philip Bellefontaine, the Director of Engineering and Public Works for the City of Victoria.

Public Works adds that if you are on the roads during the snowfall to make sure to watch out for plowing and sanding trucks and to stay back an appropriate distance.

“If you see our trucks give them the thumbs up because our crews are working Christmas Day and Boxing Day and they’re really proud of what they do but they’d really appreciate that wave of recognition,” adds Bellefontaine.

Victoria might not get near the same amount of snow as it did in 1996, but it’s enough to make it merry and bright in time for the holidays.

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