A green Christmas is being forecasted for most of Canada this year, but that shouldn’t be a concern for West Kootenay powder hounds and white Christmas enthusiasts.
Monday morning commuters in the Greater Trail area were met with over 10 cm of snow, and more is expected to fall throughout the week according to the drivebc.ca website.
“Another system is coming Wednesday afternoon or evening, bringing similar amounts of precipitation, but milder temperatures,” said Jesse Ellis, forecaster for Southeast Fire Centre.
The drivebc website is warning drivers of compact snow and slippery sections throughout the region, with a heavy snowfall warning in effect and a 40 per cent chance of flurries to continue.
Environment Canada (EC) issued a snowfall warning for the region, and forecasts an additional, “five-to-15 cm in the vicinity of Trail, Rossland and Warfield.”
As expected, the wintery weather has impacted the driving conditions.
The Trail RCMP detachment reported four accidents over the weekends that were weather related.
There are no road closures, but the Rossland hill had its usual difficulties (Monday), said Sergeant Rob Hawton, of the Trail and Greater District RCMP.
J.F. Auto Towing reported half a dozen calls over the weekend, mostly to pull cars out of the ditch.
But while the snow made for miserable driving, it did put smiles on snowsports enthusiasts.
Red Mountain Resort is a winter wonderland reporting snowfall of 28 cm over the weekend, with more on the way this week.
“Our conditions compared to a year ago are night and day,” said Mika Hakkola, communication manager for the resort.
“Last year we opened on Dec. 18 with 86 cm, and this year to date, we’re at 183 cm already.”
Chances of having snow on the ground are looking bleak for many other Canadians, David Phillips, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist told national reporters on Monday.
Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in particular are going to be green.
“Out west, not only is it going to be a white Christmas, it’s going to be a white Easter,” he said.
“They’ve been buried in snow.”