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Lower Mainland digs out from major snowfall, power outages continue in some areas

Dump of 10 to 20 cm yesterday snowiest day at YVR in two years, snowfall warning continues for Fraser Valley
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A couple navigates snowy steps while leaving the citizenship swearing-in ceremony at Parksville Conference and Community Centre Friday morning.

The major snowfall that began Friday continued to dump white stuff across the Lower Mainland Saturday.

An Environment Canada snowfall warning continued for the region Saturday morning, with total amounts of 10 to 20 cm expected in Metro Vancouver.

“The highest amounts are forecast for the Fraser Valley where up to 20 cm of further snowfall is likely through Sunday morning,” it said.

The snowfall warning was cancelled for Metro Vancouver late Saturday but continued for the Fraser Valley.

The alert said 20 cm had already fallen at the Abbotsford Airport as of 4 a.m. this morning.

Vancouver Airport reported 10 cm of snow yesterday, making it Vancouver’s snowiest day in more than two years.

“A few more centimetres of snow are forecast for the remainder of the regions mainly this morning and again tonight, with accumulations of around 2 to 4 cm today and again tonight, with lesser amounts near the Strait of Georgia and higher amounts inland and over higher terrain.”

The snowfall caused traffic mayhem on routes across the region Friday, and challenged plow crews to keep up and transit buses to maintain service.

Accumulating snow is also blamed for power outages leaving approximately 23,000 users without electricity across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

Nearly 9,000 outages were in the Lower Mainland as of 1 p.m.