Warnings issued across B.C. for high winds, dangerous alpine snow

“Local utility outages are possible,” ECCC states. “Damage to roofs, fences, branches or soft shelters is possible. Parks and forests will likely sustain some damage.”

Alpine snow brings extreme danger to mountain passes starting Wednesday night

A heap of heavy snow is forecast across B.C.’s mountains through Thursday, including the Coquihalla and Allison Pass.

The heavy snow will move in late Wednesday night and persist into Thursday morning. Folks should avoid all non-essential travel during this time, as we could see whiteouts and blizzard conditions develop east of the Lower Mainland due to the high winds that will also be present.

The Coquihalla could see 20-40 cm of snow through Thursday while the Allison Pass could see 20-30. The rest of the mountain passes through the Interior could see a widespread 10-20 cm of snow.

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The snow is forecast to finally ease across higher terrains by late Friday.

WATCH: Whiteout conditions forecast for mountain pass highways

Could we see low-elevation snow?

Tuesday saw low-elevation snow across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, with some sneaky flakes even making it into metro Vancouver.