Temperatures to drop below seasonal average in Metro Vancouver

The Vancouver skyline is pictured ahead of an expected cold weather spell on Jan. 17, 2025. (CTV News)

Metro Vancouver is forecast to experience the coldest temperatures it’s seen so far this winter.

After an unusually warm and dry start to winter, the region is expected to be hit by its first cold snap of the season.

Environment Canada says daytime highs will drop to anywhere between 2 C to 5 C with overnight lows sitting between -1 C and -3 C.

“It’s going to feel like a little bit of a shock as we return to below-normal conditions through the next several days,” said Lisa Erven, a warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada. “A reminder that winter isn’t over.”

The cold snap will be 2 to 4 degrees below normal for the region.

It’s been a particularly dry winter so far this year.

November, December, and January are typically the wettest months of the year for Vancouver, seeing about 160 millimetres of rainfall or combined precipitation.

So far this January, only about 36 millimetres have been reported at Vancouver International Airport.“We’re only sitting at about 20 to 25 per cent of our usual January precipitation,” explained Erven.

She says that’s because southern B.C. is currently under ridges of high pressure.

“We’re going to continue to see dry conditions into about mid next week, at the very least,” said the meteorologist.Erven says there is a La Niña advisory in place for the region at the moment.

“La Niñas typically bring cooler-than-normal conditions, and there is a slight pull to what are in the normal conditions for southwestern B.C., so that’s kind of setting the tone for the winter,” said Erven.

She says there are some hints that storms will return to the southern part of the province late next week or next weekend.

Arctic cold air, due to a “disrupted” polar vortex, is making an unwelcome return to some parts of Canada, bringing frigid temperatures and severe weather alerts to many parts of the country.

Erven says that severe cold weather is sticking to the Prairies though.

“We’re basically just getting like a passing blow from this very cold air that’s going to be impacting more Central and Eastern Canada over the next week. And so with that, yes, we’re seeing temperatures that drop down below normal, but we aren’t expecting any extreme cold advisories or Arctic outflow warnings,” said Erven.

The frigid temperatures are expected to stick around into the end of next week.