A person walks a dog at Spanish Banks Beach in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
The Vancouver School Board has closed all schools today, with the city under an extreme weather alert as heavy snow falls across a wide swath of southern British Columbia.
Some universities and colleges in the Lower Mainland have also cancelled in-person classes, including the University of B.C., Simon Fraser University and the B.C. Institute of Technology.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says the extreme weather alert is in place until Thursday, with extra shelter spaces being opened at 15 warming centres across the city.
Environment Canada says up to 20 centimetres is expected by this evening, and a snowfall warning is in place for all of Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler, the Sunshine Coast and most of southern B.C.
Winter continues to cause havoc from coast to coast, with Northern Alberta under extreme cold warnings and temperatures expected to dip to -40 C through the rest of the week.
Similar extreme cold is also forecast for southern Ontario with icy conditions expected from Windsor to north of Toronto, as wind chill values fall to -30.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2024.
