A bitterly cold Arctic ridge of high pressure that moved into the North Thompson Valley last Sunday came with a good dump of snow and plummeting temperatures. Many valley residents brought in their livestock and pets, turned up the heat, and hunkered down to wait out the storm.
The roads were a challenge for plow and sanding crews who did their best to keep up with what Mother Nature was throwing at them. Quickly falling temperatures and blowing snow created poor visibility and icy conditions on almost all B.C. highways. Many valley residents and travelers went to social media to advise others to stay home if it was not imperative to travel.
By early Monday morning the weather system had brought temperatures down as low as -28°C in the Barriere, and a number of areas with black ice on local highways gave morning commuters some shivers.
However, later in the day the sun came out, and a number of people reported the mercury got as high as -10°. This provided a good opportunity for residents to once again clear snow off driveways and walkways, sweep snow off vehicles, and to even venture out for shopping to stock their cupboards.
Monday and into early Tuesday weather forecasters advised temperatures to be clear and cold with -31°C overnight in outlying areas. Tuesday was forecast for clear and cold with plenty of sun, but in Barriere had clouded over by 10:30 a.m. and the mercury around -21°C.
The long range forecast called for flurries and cold Wednesday, -8° to -14° with flurries on Thursday, -6° to -11°, mostly sunny Friday, and for the weekend mostly cloudy with some snow and temperatures around 0° to -6°.