As much of Vancouver Island dug out from snow that fell Friday and Saturday, Environment Canada issued a Sunday snowfall warning for many parts of the Island.
Snowfall warnings were issued Monday morning for the Malahat area of the Trans-Canada Highway and east and inland Vancouver Island. Environment Canada is forecasting 10 to 15 centimetres of snow before rain starts to fall this afternoon.
In Greater Victoria about five centimetres was forecast; Environment Canada said the snow would change to a mix of snow and rain by evening as the day’s temperature reached 1 C.
Monday’s forecast in Greater Victoria calls for rain and wind with a high of 4 C.
It was similar story on the southern Gulf Islands.
Victoria police continued to be busy Sunday despite a slight improvement in road conditions since Saturday. Spokesman Bowen Osoko said a collision about 3 p.m. at Begbie Street and Pandora Avenue sent one person to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. “It’s still under investigation but likely road conditions were a factor,” he said. “We’re still urging people to use caution.”
Police departments started the weekend by asking people to forego non-essential travel.
A mixture of snow and rain was forecast to continue until this morning in other Island regions; 15 to 25 cm of snow was expected to accumulate at inland locations.
A snowfall warning was issued Sunday for motorists driving the Malahat portion of the Trans-Canada Highway between Goldstream and Mill Bay, where 15 to 25 centimetres of snow were forecast — also to be followed by mixed snow and rain.
There were visibility issues on the Malahat, along with sudden changes in road conditions during periods of heavy snow.
“Adjust to winter driving behaviour and use winter tires and chains,” Environment Canada said.
Drive B.C. added that there were slippery sections and compact snow on the Trans-Canada Highway ranging for about 70 kilometres from Saanich to two kilometres south of Chemainus.
After some outages earlier in the day on Sunday, there were just 22 customers affected by lost power on the south Island and 13 on the north Island by 5:30 p.m.
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A dump of snow that started Friday night and persisted into Saturday led to tough road conditions across Vancouver Island, but it also got people out on their cross-country skis and jumping onto anything that would slide.
The capital region’s winter storm warning was lifted Saturday afternoon and a warming trend is forecast, but not before another two to four centimetres of snow on Sunday.
Saturday’s snow brought out the best in people, said Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko.
Several passersby banded together to push a stuck police van out of the snow Saturday morning, he said. “I think that that actually helps sum up what the day has been like for us,” Osoko said. “Even our vehicles — we have chains for our tires — even we were getting stuck.”
It was a very busy day for officers, he said.
“We have had 17 traffic calls, not all of them crashes, since the snow started falling Friday night,” Osoko said late Saturday afternoon. “No serious injuries, thank goodness.”
Saanich police had their hands full when a semi-truck jackknifed on a snowy Patricia Bay Highway in the afternoon. Northbound traffic was reduced to one lane for a time.
Victoria and Saanich police were joined by West Shore RCMP in calling for motorists to avoid non-essential travel.
On Salt Spring Island, school trustee Rob Pingle said there looked to be less than 15 cm of snow, and getting around wasn’t too hard.
“I’ve been in Vesuvius and into Ganges and I went skiing,” he said. “To me it’s a pretty quiet snowstorm, well-timed, no one’s doing anything on a Saturday during COVID.”
Pingle said he brought his cross-country skis to the skiing session at Channel Ridge and his friend brought his telemark skis. “It was kind of like tobogganing standing up more than anything,” he said with a laugh.
Emcon, the company that maintains highways on Vancouver Island, began Saturday with warnings for motorists — including discouraging travel on the Malahat due to slippery conditions and and limited visibility.
Snow accumulations on the Malahat reached 30 cm, while Victoria International Airport had 14 and downtown Victoria had five to 10, said Environment Canada meteorologist Louis Kohanyi.
Non-essential travel was also being discouraged Saturday on Highway 18 to Lake Cowichan and Highway 14 between Langford and Port Renfrew.
Highway 14 between Shirley and Jordan River was closed for a time due to downed trees and power lines, but had reopened by 11 a.m.
B.C. Hydro reported outages affecting several thousand customers around Vancouver Island. The largest outage, affecting about 2,250 customers, was in the Tofino area.
The number of customers affected by outages dropped to about 290 by late afternoon.
B.C. Transit was affected by the snow in several communities. All service in the Cowichan Valley was suspended, and only eight routes were running in Greater Victoria: 4, 6, 14, 15, 50, 61, 70 and 72. In Nanaimo, B.C. Transit warned of delays and altered several routes; a number of routes were canceled in the Comox Valley.
Municipal crews in Nanaimo and Victoria were busy clearing main roadways, and people were being asked not to park on downtown Victoria streets.
Also at the top of Victoria’s clearing list were bus stops, wheelchair ramps and sidewalks.
Victoria geared up for the dump of snow after hearing the forecast early in the week, said Deryk Lee, acting assistant director of engineering and public works.
Crews were sent out mid-evening Friday when the first flurries came to salt the roads, he said, then switched over to plowing.
Roads used to service emergency vehicles and access hospitals are given priority, Lee said.
Secondary arterials like Fairfield Road come next, followed by residential locations.
The city had the fire department and bylaw officers doing wellness checks at various encampments.
More snow is forecast to fall on Sunday morning; it will change to rain around noon.
The day’s high temperature is forecast to be 3 C; Monday’s forecast calls for rain and a high of 6 C.
