The first major snowfall of the season hit the region Sunday night and into early Monday morning, resulting in the cancellation of classes Monday throughout the Cowichan Valley School District.
Kids took full advantage of the snow day to get outside and test out their sleds, toboggans and other devices on hilly areas covered with snow for one of the rare occasions.
Snow continues to fall throughout the day Monday, but accumulations have not been too significant due to the lower temperatures than normal. North Cowichan works crews were staying on top of the situation to keep the major roads clear.
Any decisions on the reopening of schools was being conducted on day-to-day basis. Parents were advised to continually check out the School District 79 website for the latest updates.
With temperatures remaining cool, snow was expected to keep falling periodically during the week up until at least Friday before a change in the forecast to warmer weather and rain.
An even larger snowfall was being predicted for sometime Tuesday night and into Wednesday with significant accumulations.
The 2020 wintery weather is way ahead of schedule from 2019. It wasn’t until February last year that the Chemainus Valley was rocked by major dumps of snow that lasted several days, essentially shutting down the town and making conditions treacherous.