Heavy snow, freezing rain prompts travel advisories for southern Interior mountain passes

If you have plans to travel on high elevation highways in the southern Interior, you may want to postpone those plans as a moisture-laden Pacific front weather system moves through. Environment Canada has issued winter storm warnings for the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt, Highway 3, the Okanagan Connector and Trans-Canada Highway from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass. DriveBC has issued travel advisories due to heavy snowfall with possibly freezing rain for the high elevation highways for Highway 97C and the northern section of the Coquihalla from Merritt to Kamloops. The Okanagan Connector is expected to get around 2 to 4 centimetres of snow with some blowing snow. The Coquihalla is forecasted to get rain mixed with snow between Hope and Merritt, with 2 cm to 4 cm of snow between Merritt and Kamloops. A serious crash on the Okanagan Connector 3 kilometres west of the Highway 97 turnoff has caused major delays going westbound. RCMP are investigating and have asked people to take alternate routes to avoid the area. READ MORE: Serious crash causing delays on Okanagan Connector westbound https://infotel.ca/inwheels/serious-crash-causing-delays-on-okanagan-connector-westbound/it107511 Other areas of the southern Interior are expected to get between 15 and 20 cm, and some areas at higher elevations could get up to 30 cm. The Trans-Canada Highway from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass is expected to get 10 to 20 cm of snow over the course of the day, with a chance of snow overnight and continuing tomorrow.  Highway drivers have been warned to take precautions, prepare for delays, and watch out for road crews and maintenance equipment.  The Fraser Valley, including Hope, is expecting between 40 and 50 millimetres of rain mixed with snow. There are some delays for fliers departing from Kelowna International Airport, but most flights are listed on time. Airports in Kamloops, Penticton and Vernon haven’t posted any delays. Environment Canada is forecasting warmer temperatures with periods of rain for Penticton and Kamloops, and a mix of snow and rain for Kelowna and Vernon. — With files from The Canadian Press To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. Find our Journalism Ethics policy here. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/code-of-ethics/it106782 We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .