Metro Vancouverites might have to brace for a cooler, snowier winter...but they shouldn't bust out a carrot for Frosty's nose yet.
Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa Erven says the long-term winter forecast includes a 60 per cent chance for a La Niña year.
La Niña years often include low-elevation snowfall and below-average temperatures, although this isn't always the case.
Erven says the department calls for a "weak" La Niña year, meaning its impacts should only carry through January through March. Years with a stronger signal can last significantly longer.
The weather phenomenon doesn't necessarily mean winter will see below-average temperatures, either.
Winter Metro Vancouver weather forecast
La Niña can affect the winter season in a broader sense but it doesn't include specific weather events, such as warm weather anomalies or blasts of frigid arctic air.
Metro Vancouver was in the throes of the opposite of a La Niña year — El Niño — when the region experienced a record-setting cold snap. With windchill, temperatures felt as cold as -20 C in mid-January.
The frigid lows followed one of Vancouver's warmest Decembers on record and were followed by a late-January "heat wave" that saw temperatures break an 84-year-old weather record.
While other parts of the province are expected to see below-average temperatures in December, the signal for the Lower Mainland isn't clear. However, La Niña's effects don't show until after the winter holidays.
Stay up-to-date with hyperlocal forecasts across 50 neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland with V.I.A.'s Weatherhood.
