While the weekend forecast isn't calling for snow, Metro Vancouverites might still wake up to a white Christmas -- depending on how you look at it.
Locals have been warned to brace for unseasonably cold weather and another snow event this week. Environment Canada issued an Arctic outflow warning on Tuesday (Dec. 20) for the region as strong winds make already frigid temperatures feel piercingly cold.
Following the bone-chilling temperatures, another snow event is forecasted at the end of the week, albeit the exact timing of the event is somewhat uncertain.
Starting on Friday night, however, rain should start to fall in Metro Vancouver while freezing rain is expected in the Fraser Valley, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Jonathan Bau.
That rainy pattern is expected to persist through Christmas Day, as temperatures are expected to climb up above freezing.
But the warm, wet weather won't likely wash away the significant snowfall that has accumulated in Metro Vancouver, Bau highlights.
People with backyards will see snowfall when they wake up, provided they haven't cleared it. That said, no additional snow is expected to fall after Friday -- and there may be periods of rain on Sunday (Christmas Day), too.
Will the Metro Vancouver weather forecast include snow next week?
As for the week after Christmas Day, locals should anticipate the "regularly scheduled programming": Vancouver's trademark wetter, slightly milder climate, Bau jokes.
"We are looking at temperatures up to four, five, or six degrees," he explains, adding that overnight lows aren't expected to dip down below freezing.
The milder, wet pattern is expected to persist for at least a few days but the weather models are less clear beyond Dec. 29.
The federal weather forecaster called for a colder-than-average December across Western Canada, as a frigid shift that started toward the end of November was expected to carry through the first half of the month.
Outside of December, the seasonal model doesn't provide a clear enough signal for temperatures in the Lower Mainland in the new year.
