Cooler than normal conditions expected to linger into the first week of October

It’s definitely colder than normal for this time of year according to Environment Canada.

Meteorologist Matt MacDonald said Sunday night, however, was not quite record-breaking.

“Looking at the temperatures last night Williams Lake dipped down to minus five, Quesnel minus three, and similar temperatures down in Clinton at minus two point seven, so that’s about six to seven degrees below normal for this time of year,” MacDonald said.

“We’ve just seen this continuous circulation of air ever since Thursday from the north, so kind of modified Arctic air we call it just bringing some cold weather for this time of year.”

MacDonald said record overnight lows for this time of year are closer to minus eight, minus ten.

‘La Nada’ winter expected

MacDonald said the next disturbance is expected to arrive Wednesday evening and could result in snow at higher elevations including Begbie Summit.

“In the medium term these cooler than normal conditions are expected to stay right through the first week of October and then get closer to seasonal,” MacDonald said.

“In the longer range for the second half of fall and into earlier winter, we are expecting warmer than normal conditions this fall mostly owing to the temperatures of the Pacific Ocean which are quite a bit warmer than normal this year.”

As we get into true winter, MacDonald said we are not expecting an El Nino or an La Nina winter but an La Nada.

“So kind of near normal in terms of temperatures in the ocean, down in the equator, so this will be one of those winters where we don’t have a particularly high confidence in the seaonal forecast and see what we get.”