It might only be September, but snow is falling at ski resorts in British Columbia.
A live mountain camera at Whistler Peak, which has an elevation of 2,182 m, shows a winter wonderland with snow blanketing the ground and it sticking around.
As of 10:30 a.m., Blackcomb and the Roundhouse only received a small dusting of snow on the mountain.
“We began seeing the first dustings of snow early last week thanks to precipitation and cooler temps at the top of the mountain,” says Nick Voutour, communications manager at Whistler Blackcomb. “Our teams are so excited about this reminder that winter is well on its way!”
Mountain Rainier in Washington State also woke up to snow on Wednesday. A road was forced to temporarily close due to snow and won’t re-open until conditions improve.
The snow will likely be exciting news for many in Whistler Village as it is, after all, only Sept. 27.
Whistler Blackcomb is not the only B.C. ski resort to have a significant amount of snow, but Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden and Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna also announced they had snow falling last week.
“First flakes have fallen,” said a spokesperson at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort on Sept. 20.
Big White Ski Resort posted about their first snowfall on Facebook on Sept. 19, with the caption: "Oh, how we’ve missed these views!"
September snowfall doesn’t often stick around for long.
The opening day for the winter season at Whistler Blackcomb is still weeks away on Nov. 23. In 2022, Whistler Blackcomb had its first dusting for the season on the Oct. 22 weekend.
Recently, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement warning of the threat of snow on the Okanagan Connector on Sept. 18.
In the Interior, parts of the Okanagan Connector got a summer dusting of snow in June 2023, prompting Environment Canada to issue a special weather statement. Kootenay Pass also had a small amount of snow at the Pennask Summit in June.
According to Whistler Blackcomb, the freezing level sits at about 2,100 metres on Wednesday. The mountain forecast calls for cloudy skies and scattered, wet flurries.
Environment Canada meteorologist Ken Dosanjh says next week shows signals that there could be a northernly flow in B.C. and temperatures should begin to decline.
“A pretty good signal for definitely dropping temperatures and freezing levels,” he says.
The upcoming weekend will likely be the last ‘hurrah’ of warm weather.
