By The Canadian Press

Vancouver waits to see if flakes count as city’s first snowfall

Feb 18, 2026 | 11:09 AM

VANCOUVER — Snowflakes fell in Vancouver on Wednesday but an Environment Canada meteorologist says it’s too soon to know if it will be enough to register as the city’s first snowfall of the winter.

Colin Fong says flurries have been spotted across the city on-and-off but it won’t officially register unless the observer at the weather station at Vancouver International Airport records at least one centimetre on the ground.

Vancouver has been waiting for its first official snowfall of the season, and if nothing arrives it would be the first time the city had gone snow-free since the winter of 1982-1983.

It’s much colder further north, where an Arctic outflow warning is bringing wind chills around -20 C to the northern coast, including the communities of Kitimat, Stewart and Terrace.

Environment Canada says an Arctic high pressure ridge over B.C.’s Interior will continue to bring cold temperatures in combination with strong winds.

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Fong says the Vancouver snow is already starting to disappear as quickly as it came.

“They tend to just pop up and go away as quickly as they come. So, we’re going to be under the threat of that kind of scenario for pretty much the entirety of the day,” he said.

“We’re going be in kind of wait-and-see mode to see how things play out over the entire day.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026

The Canadian Press