The Parksville Qualicum Beach region was covered by varying amounts of snow overnight Saturday into Sunday.
Don’t expect it to melt off right away.
Environment Canada is calling for sub-freezing overnight temperatures throughout the coming week, starting with a low of minus-6 degrees for Qualicum Beach and minus-8 for Nanaimo Sunday night as clear skies herald the arrival of an Arctic cold front on the heels of the snowstorm.
The days will be mostly sunny, but don’t expect a springtime feel to the air, said Lisa West, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
“It’s expected to remain dry and cold through much of next week, with the high temperatures each day around one or two Celsius, with lows of minus five to minus seven Celsius at night,” West said.
“There is the possibility of flurries on Tuesday evening, but the forecast is for mainly dry and cold weather until the end of next week when the temperatures will go back up to between two and five Celsius during the day.”
Environment Canada is calling for the possibility of additional flurries at the end of the week at the high pressure gives way to the next moisture-bearing front.
Saturday night’s snowstorm was preceded by a weather bulletin from Environment Canada that warned of accumulations of up to 10 cm of snow over the southern and eastern portions of Vancouver Island, specifically from Victoria to Nanaimo. But the system pushed upwards of 10 cm of snow, or more, to some parts of the Alberni Valley and well north of Qualicum Beach.
— NEWS staff and Black Press files