Pedestrians bundle up while walking along the sidewalk northbound along 6th Avenue in downtown Kamloops on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, as the City was hit with as much as 15cm of snow to give Kamloops a 'white Christmas'/via Paul James
The City of Kamloops is reporting a busy, but otherwise uneventful Wednesday morning as far as any road-related trouble is concerned.
It comes as Kamloops and much of the Southern Interior is feeling the effects of a blast of coastal air coming through from Washington State and the BC south coast, which is delivering around 15cm of snow across many parts of the region through the day.
Environment Canada initially called for 5cm to 10cm of snow across Kamloops over the course of the Wednesday, but later upgraded that to include the likelihood of around 15cm in the southwest portions of the city, which could include the Aberdeen and Pineview neighborhoods.
But with many folks getting their holidays started early, it seems the snow has — at least through the morning — not caused any major headaches.
The City’s Streets Manager, Jeff Putnam, telling Radio NL in a brief note that its “all hands on deck” when it comes to snow removal from the sidewalks and the main arterial roads, such as Summit Drive, Tranquille and Dallas Drive.
Effort by City of Kamloops crews to keep the multi-use pathway along 6th Avenue in downtown Kamloops clear/via Paul James
As per the department’s mandate, sidewalks and multi-use pathways take priority along side the major routes until the snow stops falling at a significant rate.
From there, the City then prioritizes the so-called “collector” routes which lead to the arterials, then the side streets, followed by Cul-de-Sacs.
Despite the steady work by City work crews, the RCMP in Kamloops did feel obliged to issue a quick advisory on Wednesday morning as the snow began coming down quite heavily shortly after sunrise.
“With large amounts of snow forecast for December 24, 2025, take time to plan your route and ensure you and your vehicle is prepared for winter driving conditions,” said the RCMP in a media release put out shortly after 7am on Wednesday. ” If your travel plans are not essential, consider making alternative arrangements or delaying your travel when possible.”
“Please take extra caution and check road conditions and travel routes this holiday season,” said Corporal Dana Napier. “It is a good idea to be prepared in your vehicle with a blanket, extra food, and to keep your gas tank at least half full.”
The public service announcement from the Mounties comes as Wednesday’s snow is also creating some challenging driving conditions on routes leading too and from Kamloops and the surrounding region.
A Travel Advisory had been put in place for the whole of the Coquihalla Highway on Wednesday morning, as Environment Canada had forecast 10cm to 15cm of snow to fall along the entire stretch of that major highway through the course of the day.
A day earlier, the Coquihalla between Merritt and Hope had been shut down for over 14 hours through the entire morning and a part of the evening before, as the Summit area of the roadway was hit with a sizeable blast of snow, causing numerous accidents which prompted the provincial government to shut the route down.
It only reopened at around 12:30pm on Tuesday.
Later in the morning, DriveBC later downgraded the Travel Advisory to cover just the Merritt to Hope section of the Coquihalla.
However, Environment Canada later revised its forecast for up to 10cm of snow through the Highway 1 stretch of the Fraser Canyon, which had been the ‘go to’ option for those trying to make it too and from the Lower Mainland with the Coquihalla under snow strain on Tuesday, as well as a number of days leading up to the over 14 hour closure.
Graphic showing odds of cities in Canada able to celebrate a ‘white Christmas,” which is defined as 2cm of snow on the ground as of 7am local time on December 25th/via The Weather Channel. A so-called ‘perfect Christmas’ is when snow is falling at that 7am mark.
With the forecast calling for the snow to continue the rest of the week, through Christmas Day as well as Boxing Day, it seems likely that Kamloops will be able to list itself among those communities in Canada which will be marking a ‘white Christmas.’
This distinction is when any given city has at least two centimeters of snow on the ground as of 7am on December 25th.
According to The Weather Network, the odds of Kamloops seeing a ‘white Christmas’ came in at 52% this year, which is on the lower end of the probability scale compared to many other major cities in Canada.
It’s still to be seen if Kamloops will be able to secure a so-called ‘perfect Christmas.’
This is when snow is falling at the 7am mark on Christmas Day if there’s already the requisite 2cm or more of snow on the ground to log a ‘white Christmas.’
