ISSUED: Wednesday February 11, 2025 11:00 MST

SYNOPSIS: An upper ridge of high pressure will shift inland from the coast and then flatten southward across southern BC for dry, fairly sunny/clear to partly cloudy conditions today, tonight and Thursday.  A stagnating low level airmass and developing temperature inversion could result in patchy fog and low cloud late tonight-Thursday morning and again Thursday night-Friday morning.

FREEZING LEVEL: Rising to between 1300 & 1500 metres this afternoon and slightly higher Thursday afternoon. Surface tonight.   A temperature inversion will develop.

FERNIE ALPINE RESORT FORECAST (1615 metres):

TODAY: Sunny with a few bands of cloud.  High near -1.

TONIGHT: Clear with cloudy periods, possible fog and low cloud developing overnight.  Low -5 or -6.

THURSDAY: Sunny with a few bands of cloud or cloudy periods, possible morning low cloud and fog patches.  High 0 or -1.

THURSDAY NIGHT: Clear with cloudy periods, possible low cloud and fog patches.  Low near -5.

OUTLOOK:

FRIDAY: Sunny periods or possible low cloud and fog patches during the morning, increasing or thickening cloud during the afternoon. High near -1.  A few flurries or occasional snow Friday night, light accumulation possible.  Low near -5.

SATURDAY and SATURDAY NIGHT: Mainly cloudy with a 70% chance of flurries or occasional snow.  Light accumulation possible, mainly during the night.  High -2 or -3.  Low near -9.

SUNDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks.  Slight chance of flurries, early morning and again late in the day.  High near -3.  60% chance of flurries Sunday night.  Low near -9.

CONFIDENCE/DISCUSSION: Good confidence of the synoptic pattern through Thursday night, fair Friday onward and also fair confidence of the local sky condition and temperature tonight through Friday morning.  Once again there’s much uncertainty of where the low cloud/fog will develop tonight-early Thursday, Thursday night and again Friday night. Limited moisture drifting over the area of high pressure should also provide a few bands of cloud this afternoon and possible cloudy periods tonight through Thursday night.  The computer models are variable with the moisture content of a west-southwesterly flow developing in advance of a large upper trough pushing southward off the coast Friday.  The general trend is slowing an embedded disturbances eastward progress and also suggesting it’ll dissipate some before it reaches the Rockies Friday evening.  The guidance is also still variable with the chance of snow and more so the local amounts of snow Friday night through Saturday night, and then again Sunday night-Monday.

Ron Lakeman.