Eastbound traffic was detoured around the Grand Boulevard and Highway 1 intersection due to a collision on Jan. 6, 2022.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A dump of overnight snow has created hazardous driving conditions Kamloops and area.

Kamloops Fire Rescue responded to ten vehicle incidents before noon today, Jan. 6, and nearly all of them along the Trans-Canada Highway east of the city.

A Pacific frontal system brought snow into the southern Interior last night leading Environment Canada to issue a warning for highway drivers, especially for higher elevations.

The snowfall warning is remaining in effect for many B.C. upper elevation highways where 20 to 30 centimetres is expected to accumulate by tomorrow afternoon on Highway 5 between Merritt and Kamloops, the Okanagan Connector and Highway 3.

The Coquihalla Highway, restricted to commercial traffic, may see up to 40 cm of snow.

READ MORE: Snowfall warnings issued through Friday for Southern Interior

Around 10:48 a.m. today, firefighters from Kamloops and Chase, along with paramedics, responded to a jack-knifed semi truck near the Monte Creek junction.

Kamloops Fire Rescue platoon captain Darryl Cooper said the incident involved two semi trucks, and four or five passenger vehicles, but firefighters left the incident for paramedics when they found no one was trapped in their vehicles.

Upon their return, the same crew responded to a T-bone collision at the intersection of Highway 1 and Grand Boulevard.

Both vehicles sustained significant damage and needed to be towed from the scene, but again, no one was entrapped.

Cooper could not yet confirm how severe the injuries were or if there were any at all.

A heavy wrecker tow truck hooked up to remove a trailer after the Highway 1 and Grand Boulevard collision on Jan. 6, 2022.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

READ MORE: Smaller communities leading the explosion of COVID cases in Interior Health

Eastbound traffic was backed up at the intersection early Thursday afternoon as emergency crews redirected drivers around the collision scene.

From 5:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., crews responded to multiple vehicle incidents along the highway, but the damage was less severe because of "soft, pillowy snow" in the median, Cooper said.

On Thursday morning, both the Coquihalla Highway and Highway 3 have been closed.

READ MORE: When people had nowhere to go in the Kamloops cold, The Loop stepped up

A vehicle incident caused the closure of the Coquihalla Highway near Othello Tunnels, according to Drive B.C., and downed power lines near Sunshine Valley are being assessed on Highway 3.

A layer of snow was left over the Kamloops area on Thursday morning, but warmer temperatures are in the near future with Environment Canada forecasting temperatures above 0 Celsius by Jan. 10.

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