Around 20 centimetres of snowfall forecast for some B.C. highway passes

Environment Canada says as much as 20 centimetres of snow could blanket parts of eastern BC by this afternoon and it warns of potentially hazardous conditions, especially through mountain passes.

Snowfall warnings cover higher elevations of the Shuswap, Columbia, Yoho, Yellowhead and Kinbasket regions north to the Peace River area, although the northern edge of the system is easing and only another five centimetres is expected around Tumbler Ridge and the Yellowhead Pass.

The weather office says snow should change to rain and then taper off this evening, and it says heavy rain that drenched the Central Coast overnight has now subsided.

Rainfall warnings were lifted for coastal and inland sections of the central coast this morning because only about 15 more millimetres is due, after Environment Canada said as much as 100 millimetres fell in some areas overnight.