Travel as of Saturday morning is not advised north of Williams Lake.
A travel advisory issued late Friday afternoon by DriveBC remains in effect 8 km north of Wildwood to 20 km north of Hixon because of limited visibility with snow and slippery sections.
Periods of light snow and blowing snow is expected to end near noon in Williams Lake and 100 Mile House with the temperature falling in the afternoon.
Environment Canada is forecasting temperatures for the Cariboo this week to be well below the normal max of 0°C and min of -11°C due to a cold Arctic ridge of high pressure.
“For our extreme cold warnings for the Cariboo we would need at least minus 40 for two hours or more, and that can be also including windchill,” said meteorologist Bobby Sekhon.
Environment Canada is warning risk of frostbite Saturday and Sunday. Windchill values of -37°C in Williams Lake, -33°C in 100 Mile House, and -36°C in Quesnel are anticipated overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning.
An extreme cold warning is in effect for the Chilcotin.
“A period of very cold wind chills is expected,” states the alert.
“An arctic airmass over the Central Interior will result in temperatures over Chilcotin reaching as low as minus 30 Celsius tonight. This combined with brisk northerly winds will give extreme wind chill values below minus 40. Conditions are expected to improve Sunday afternoon as temperatures rise.”
(Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include an extreme cold warning in effect for the Chilcotin)
Something going on in the Cariboo you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
