Weather alerts issued as 'intense bands of snow' forecast for southern B.C.

Snow should start coming down this evening across the province's southern Interior and, according to Environment Canada, it won't be gently falling flakes.

The federal weather agency has issued several special weather statements for the region, warning residents there is potential for "intense bands of snow" to develop Monday night that could bring up to 15 centimetres by Tuesday morning.

Affected areasinclude the Okanagan andSimilkameenvalleys,the Boundary, Nicola, Shuswap and North and South Thompson regions, Slocan Lake and 100 Mile House, the northern and southern Fraser Canyon, including Lytton and Boston Bar and the eastern Fraser Valley including Hope.

The Elk Valley is expected to see the most snow, with up to 20 centimetres forecast for the area, which includes the city of Fernie.

Drivers are being warned that weather in the mountains can change suddenly, resulting in hazardous driving conditions.

Conditions are expected to be particularly precarious on the Coquihalla Highway, where crews are working to repair bridges and infrastructure damaged bylandslides and flooding in November.

Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton, which is currently open for essential traffic only, Highway 97 between Clinton and 100 Mile House, and the Okanagan Connector (Highway 97C)have also been flagged by Environment Canada as potential trouble spots.

• Up-to-date road conditions are available at drivebc.ca.

Snow likely for Lower Mainland, too

A cold, unstable air mass over the coast could alsobring some wintry conditions to the Lower Mainland.

Showery weather with snow levels hovering around 300 metres is forecast for Monday night and, asa result, residents in some parts of Metro Vancouver could see between two and10 centimetres of snow by Tuesday morning.

According to CBCmeteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe, temperatures in the metro region Mondaywill only get to about 3 C and a "pulse of moisture" moving in around 4p.m. could quickly change to snow tonight.

Tuesday is expected to be a mix of sun and showers for Metro Vancouver, with forecasters keeping an eye on a Pacific storm potentially heading for the South Coast on Friday.