VANCOUVER — Drivers in British Columbia's southern Interior are facing challenging conditions on the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt as a winter storm warning remains in effect with about 35 centimetres of snow blanketing the route since Monday night.
DriveBC, the Ministry of Transportation's online travel advisory service, says blowing snow and limited visibility will continue through Wednesday, while Environment Canada is forecasting a further 10 centimetres of snow.
A snowfall warning is also posted for Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton where the weather office says the latest storm has dumped 30 centimetres of snow over the last 36 hours.
Howling winds and intense rain have also damaged what BC Hydro describes as "transmission structure" on the Sunshine Coast, prompting immediate repairs before another powerful storm is due to hammer the south coast on Thursday.
The Crown utility says via social media that repairs will require a total power outage from 9:30 to 2:30 p.m., affecting the area from Lund to Saltery Bay, including the city of Powell River as well as Cortez and Texada islands.
The Powell River school district says on its website that the outage means all schools in District 47 will be closed for the day, although classes are expected to resume Thursday.
Coquihalla Highway is snow covered this morning. 5 to 10 more cm of snow will fall today pic.twitter.com/ebGhpWXpY7
— Mark Madryga (@MMadryga) December 19, 2018
⚠️ Watch for Snow Plows ⚠️
— Drive BC (@DriveBC) December 19, 2018
⚠️ Do not pass snowplows on the right ⚠️#ShiftIntoWinter pic.twitter.com/MTpfEaOhX7
