The deep freeze is back in Merritt, although the cold snap which started overnight on Jan. 2 is only expected to stick around for a couple days in the Nicola Valley, said a meteorologist from Environment Canada.
“We have a ridge of high pressure sitting over the province, and combined with the long nights and the clear skies, it led to some pretty cold temperatures to start things off this morning,” explained meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau on Jan. 3.
With skies expected to stay clear over the next couple days, Charbonneau predicted the temperature will stay cold in the Nicola Valley for at least a couple days — hovering around -20 C overnight, and -9 C during the days.
“And then going to the latter half of the week, we start to see some cloud moving in, associated with the low [pressure system] southward across the coast. That cloud cover is going to keep things from cooling off quite so much overnight,” she explained.
Overnight lows later in the week are expected to stay around -7 C, with daytime lows at about -5 C and a slight chance of flurries, said Charbonneau.
She recommended that anyone planning on travelling along high elevation highways — especially later in the week — to check the traveller’s forecasts on Environment Canada’s website before hitting the road.
