Southern BC's 'snowmometer' has a pulse

Thursday, November 19, 2015, 11:46 AM - The first non-zero chance of lowland snow creeps into the forecast for parts of southern BC for next week and a potential modified arctic blast. Significant uncertainty however, remains.

It's the perfect time for a refresher on the snowmometer scale.

The snowmometer is a ten point scale from 0 (no snow threat) to 10 (army assistance required). In brackets, is included how many times a year this often is the case just to help perspective.

0- sNOw chance. Sorry, not going to happen. (335-340 days/year)

The only place you'll find snow is on one of the beautiful local ski hills.

1-2 Conversational Snow (5-10 times/yr)

• Typical conversational snow risk, and often local Vancouver blogs will begin to highlight (i.e. build hype and generate revenue) these levels of marginal snowfall risk.
• This is at its core conversational snow and nothing more, for now...This isn't to say a significant event can come from a 1-2, and a high impact event with very low confidence will likely get a lower score as well.

3-5 Nuisance Snow (4-5 times/year)

• The level of the snowmometer has long moved past the conversation around the water cooler and is dominating all local news sources.
• Tire shops have been inundated by the locals rushing who vow never to join the summer tire club.
• The first stage where you might see your helpless neighbour on bare all-seasons sliding his way along Boundary Rd.
• Buses to SFU may begin to struggle with the snow with thousands of students praying that classes may be cancelled or delayed.
• NO snowfall warnings have been issued by Environment Canada with amounts generally less than 5 cm (locally higher).

6-7 Impactful Snow (1-2 times/year)

• Okay folks, we have medium-to-high confidence of some fairly significant snow for this neck of the woods (locally 10 cm+), but I necessarily wouldn't run to the store to buy milk and bread.
• School delays are now likely for portions of Metro Vancouver (higher elevations) along with substantial transit delays.
• Snowfall warnings are likely issued or will be issued by Environment Canada.

8-9 Crippling Snowfall (2-3 times/decade)

• A once in 5-10 year snow event for the South Coast with significant amounts 30 cm+ forecast. May become especially treacherous with warming temperatures, localized flooding and intense ponding on roadways as storm drains are clogged with slush.
• Numbers at or above this value will not be used lightly, and may never be used during the life of this blog.

10 - #SNomg #Snowmageddon (2-3 times/Century)

• Only one or two analog exists, including the blizzard of 1996 in Victoria, BC.
• Lack of transportation, significant structural damage and accumulations in excess of 50 cm +