Winter returns with a rare El Niño chill coming to B.C.
British Columbia is finally going to get a taste of winter temperatures later this week
Folks in British Columbia may have left 2023 wondering where the winter weather went. As it turns out, winter weather waited until 2024 as we’re now at the cusp of a seemingly impossible pattern setting up across B.C. this week.
Despite a strong El Niño this winter, which is famous for bringing mild and above-seasonal conditions to parts of Western Canada, temperatures are about to plummet as an unusual outbreak of Arctic air descends over the province.
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Strong El Niños are not known to bring extreme cold—rather quite the opposite—but this is going to flip the normal convention.
An Arctic outflow reminiscent of La Niña
A strong low will head inland on Tuesday, bottling up the coldest air in the northern reaches of the province. However, by Thursday, a ridge of high pressure building in Alaska will push that frigid air all the way to B.C.'s coast and send temperatures plunging.
This sort of pattern would be fairly typical during a La Niña winter, so to see this happen during an El Niño winter is odd, to say the least.
Readings will begin to drop on Thursday morning, but the dense Arctic air won't fully reach the South Coast until Thursday evening, sending temperatures well below the seasonal mark.
The frigid cold will linger into Friday, with daytime highs about 10 degrees below normal along the coast and more than 15 degrees below normal through the Interior.
With such a strong Arctic high pressure system in the Interior, gusty winds will be forced through the valleys and gaps along the coast, creating Arctic outflow winds. This means wind chills will be enhanced near Greater Victoria, the Fraser Valley, and portions of the Central and North coasts.
Vulnerable populations will have to take significant precautions to stay safe during this stretch of unusually cold weather.
Stay with The Weather Network for the latest updates on your forecast across B.C.
