Image Credit: PEXELS

Environment Canada defines a white Christmas as a day when there is at least two centimetres of snow on the ground.

With high temperatures not expected to be much above freezing today, Dec. 23, in Kamloops and the Okanagan, and declining steadily through the Christmas weekend, a basic white Christmas is virtually guaranteed.

For it to be a perfect white Christmas, snow has to fall sometime during the day, which also seems likely this year.

READ MORE: Environment Canada warns frigid temperatures to blanket B.C. through next week

“I would expect to see five centimetres of snow through valley bottoms on Christmas Day and maybe a bit more at higher elevations and up on the benches,” Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor told iNFOnews.ca. “Then we’ll probably get a repeat cycle again on Boxing Day.”

Snow had been forecast for earlier this week in the region but most of it fell to the west.

That unpredictability is what often happens when there is a northwest flow aloft, Proctor explained. That’s bumping up against an Arctic front over the central Interior that dumped 30 cm of snow on Prince George. At the same time, moist air is trying to move in from the Pacific northwest.

“Things are starting to look a bit more organized as we move into Christmas Day and Boxing Day from a systems point of view,” Proctor said. “We’re definitely bringing something more major in and it looks like it’s going to affect a larger area so we’ve got a pretty good chance of seeing a white Christmas. There will be a lot of happy kids.”

While there's not much chance of significant snowfall in the valley bottoms today, there are Environment Canada wind warnings and snowfall alerts for the Coquihalla Highway and Highway 3 today. For the Coquihalla, 15 to 25 cm of snow is expected to fall through to Friday morning while Highway 3 will see 5 to 15 cm of snow though this evening.

READ MORE: Why you need to worry more than ever about those big rigs on B.C. highways

On the down side, the Arctic system that's moving in for Christmas Day is going to bring steadily dropping temperatures.

From a high of -1 C forecast for today, temperatures will drop to a high of -8 C in the Okanagan on Christmas Day, -9 C on Boxing day and -10 C on Monday. Overnight lows will reach -15 or -16.

It will be even colder in Kamloops with the high for Christmas Day forecast at -12 C, falling to -13 C on Boxing Day and -14 C on Monday. Overnight lows will get down to -19 C some nights.

That cold air may not be good news for holiday skiers since mountain temperatures can be 5 to 10 degrees colder.

Alpine bases at regional ski hills:

• 135 cm – Sun Peaks
• 123 cm – Silver Star
• 134 cm – Big White
• 143 cm – Apex

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