After a day of monsoon-like conditions Friday and Saturday, Prince George residents were looking forward to the return of sunny weather on Sunday.
But the aftermath of an unseasonable rainstorm left treacherous conditions on city streets, driveways and sidewalks, making travel extremely hazardous for motorists and pedestrians.
A near-record 14.9 millimetres of precipitation fell on the city Friday, most of it snow, and the deluge turned to rain late into the night before the skies finally cleared late Saturday night. That was only 1.1 mm shy of the record of 16 mm of moisture for Dec. 16, set in 1976. The 13 cm of snow on Friday was just off the record 14.4 cm in 1976.
"That was a healthy dump, from Prince George down to Williams Lake," said Environment Canada meteorologist Ross MacDonald. "It's been exacerbated because the snow has been there. The temperature did climb above zero around 9 p.m. [Friday] and the wind picked up as well so that warmed it up a bit more."
Prince George did escape the predicted arrival of freezing rain that hit the Kitimat-Terrace area Friday night, but above-freezing temperatures and near-continuous rain overnight Saturday turned local streets into skating rinks.
Icy road conditions 22 kilometres east of Vanderhoof led to ahead-on collision between a car and a sport utility vehicle that killed a passenger in the car and left seven other people injured.
By noon Saturday, 10 mm of rain had fallen, which left huge puddles in its wake. Soft ice conditions at the Exhibition Park ice oval forced closure of the facility for the weekend.
A new total precipitation record was set Friday in Williams Lake, where 16.4 mm fell, shattering the old mark of 15.0 mm set in 1968. Bella Bella on the central coast received 91 mm of rain on Friday as the band of moisture moved through the area. Snowfall in Quesnel reached 20 cm before it turned to rain.
Environment Canada's forecast for Sunday in Prince George called for a mostly sunny day with a high of -5 C, dipping down to -9 C overnight. A cloudy day is predicted for Monday with a high of 2 C and a low of -8 C, with a 60 per cent chance of snow flurries or rain showers. The outlook for Tuesday is for a mix of sun and cloud with a high of -4 C and low of -9 C.
For people looking forward to a white Christmas in Prince George, there's still enough snow cover left to make the chances of that appear pretty much certain. In Vancouver, the chance for snow on the ground next Sunday is 21 per cent, while Victoria has a 16 per cent chance of a soft landing for Santa's sleigh.
"People are starting to ask if we will get into a cold Arctic outbreak pattern where we could see chillier end to the week, but at this point it doesn't seem like it's in the cards," said MacDonald, from his Vancouver office. "The ski hill guys are calling and they're looking for snow. Below-seasonal precipitation is not good for them."
