UPDATE: As of 5:14 a.m. PST on Thursday, November 12th, the weather alert is only in effect for the Elk Valley, not the rest of the East Kootenay Region.

According to Environment Canada, a powerful storm will arrive in the BC Interior today. The system will race through the Central Interior this afternoon and then stall across the south interior this evening. Strong winds with gusts over 70 km/h will develop across the Central Interior in the morning and spread southward this afternoon.

Locally heavy precipitation will accompany the front. Snow will develop over the Columbia regions in the morning and spread to the Kootenays. Rising freezing levels will turn the snow to rain over most of the Kootenay regions in the afternoon. The storm may linger over the far southern part of the province on Friday producing a prolonged period of heavy precipitation.

The public is advised to monitor future forecasts and warnings as warnings may be required or extended.

Please monitor the latest forecasts and warnings from Environment Canada at www.weather.gc.ca.

PREVIOUS ALERT: As of 4:58 a.m. on Wednesday, November 11th, a special weather statement is in effect for the East Kootenay, including Invermere and Cranbrook.

A powerful storm is expected to hit British Columbia on Thursday, November 12th. The cold front will race across the Central Interior Thursday afternoon and then stall across the Southern Interior in the evening. Strong winds with gusts as high as 80 km/h will develop across the Central Interior in the morning then spread to the Southwest Interior in the afternoon.

Locally heavy precipitation will also accompany the front. Snow will develop over the Columbias in the morning and then spread to the Kootenays. Rising snow levels, however, will cause the snow to change to rain over most of the Kootenay regions in the afternoon.

The storm may linger over the far southern part of the province on Friday, in which case, potentially heavy precipitation would continue.

The public is advised to monitor future forecasts and warnings as warnings may be required or extended.

Please monitor the latest forecasts and warnings from Environment Canada at www.weather.gc.ca.