Snowfall warning issued for parts of Metro Vancouver, Sea-to-Sky region

A snowfall warning has been issued for parts of Metro Vancouver and for the Sea-to-Sky region from West Vancouver to Squamish.

Environment Canada forecasts a total of 10 to 15 centimetres of snow over higher elevationsand fivecentimetres for Metro Vancouver.

In the Fraser Valley, as much as 20 centimetres of snow could fall before expected periods of freezing rain, potentially creatinghazardous road conditions in the Tri-Cities, Surrey, Langley, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford.

Crews monitoring conditions

In a release, the province said that maintenance crews remain on site to monitor and clear provincial roads and bridges.

Lane closures are in effect on the Port Mann Bridge while rope access technicians reloadsnow collarsto each of the bridge's 288 cables.

Maintenance crews are also applyingde-icerto the crossbeams on the Alex Fraser Bridge, are making frequent patrols of the provincial highway systemand have salt and brine stockpilesand snowplows ready to go as needed.

• New system aims to clear ice and snow from cables of Alex Fraser Bridge

The provincial release also urged commuters to drive carefully.

"The snowy holiday forecast is a reminder for everyone to use extra caution, drive to the current conditionsand pay particular attention to lane closures and traffic control as crews work to keep bridges clear and highways safe for travel," said the release.

Cindy Yu, ameteorologist with Environment Canada, said during the course of WednesdayMetro Vancouver could see "periods of snow" that will likely turn into wet snow or snow mixed with rain by the afternoon.

"We don't need a lot of snowfall to create problems. If we do get a rain-snow mix, or any kind of slushy snow, we could get black ice in Vancouver or freezing rain in the Fraser Valley."

With files from Tina Lovgreen