Cold La Nina winter forecast for B.C. and the West Kootenay
By Contributor
A very cold winter is in store for B.C. and Alberta, but it is far from clear if that means as much snow as the province saw last year, the CBC reports.
The winter could be one of the top three coldest winters in the past 20 years for B.C., according to the long term forecast issued by Pennsylvania-based Accuweather.
The company’s senior meteorologist Brett Anderson is forecasting the region will see temperatures as much as five degrees lower than normal as several arctic air masses slide down through British Columbia and Alberta this coming winter.
“Edmonton, Alberta, will likely be in the deep freeze for the fifth consecutive winter,” said the forecast.
Officials at the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort say they are hoping the La Nina weather pattern brings lots of snow on the slopes this winter. The resort is scheduled to open on Nov. 24 and already snow is piling up in the upper slopes.
Last year a La Nina pattern brought the second snowiest year on record for the ski resort, with more than 15 metres of snow. The record snowfall for the resort is nearly 17 metres, set in the La Nina winter of 1998/99.
But Anderson says the La Nina forecast does not mean B.C. or Alberta will necessarily get more snow.
Cold air doesn’t hold moisture very well, he points out, and if it’s going to be snowy, especially in western parts of British Columbia, “it’s usually not going to be terribly cold, especially in the mountains.”
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/10/11/bc-la-nina-west-coast.html
