The big weekend dump of snow on B.C.'s South Coast has made driving treacherous, knocked out power to thousands of people in Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island, and closed numerous schools and universities.

Public schools were closed Monday in Surrey, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Mission, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and the Gulf Islands after as much as 50 centimetres of snow fell.

Driving was treacherous on many roads on B.C.'s South Coast Monday.
(CBC)

In Surrey, night school classes have also been cancelled and all facility rentals closed.

Five elementary schools in Vancouver closed — University Hill, Southlands, Graham Bruce, Renfrew and Queen Elizabeth Annex  — because the power was out. However, the rest of the public schools in the city opened, as did those in Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Delta, New Westminster and Langley.

In Burnaby two schools have been closed because they have no power — Cascade Heights Elementary and Westridge Elementary.

Heavy snow kept many people off the roads.
(CBC)

A number of private schools are closed, including Crofton House, St. George's, York House, the Vancouver Waldorf School and all francophone schools in Vancouver. Most church-run schools are also closed across the Lower Mainland, as are Vancouver Montessori schools.

Many post-secondary institutions closed their doors:

• University of British Columbia.
• Simon Fraser University's Burnaby and downtown Vancouver campuses.
• Emily Carr School of Art and Design.
• Vancouver Community College.
• Langara College.
• Douglas College.
• Kwantlen University College.
• Trinity Western University.
• All campuses of the University College of the Fraser Valley.
• Capilano College's Sunshine Coast campus

The Justice Institute in New Westminster remained open.

Travel difficult

The snow has left roads and highways littered with cars, and is being blamed for at least one traffic death in Surrey when a vehicle crossed the centre line and struck an oncoming vehicle.

The snow has tapered off to flurries on Monday, but temperatures are falling, which is expected to make roads even more treacherous as slush turns to ice.

It is also slow going on Lower Mainland buses and on the SkyTrain. Trolley bus lines are down in many areas, and SkyTrain is running slowly, as each train requires an operator in this sort of weather.

SkyTrain is running longer trains to compensate for the slowness and the wider gaps between trains.

However, the WestCoast Express train is running normally.

Thousands lose power

B.C. Hydro reports that about 60,000 people remained without power on Monday, after the heavy snow snapped tree branches and took down power lines.

The hardest hit areas were the North Shore and Vancouver Island, said Hydro spokeswoman Elisha Moreno. There were also outages in Surrey, Vancouver and Burnaby.

Hydro is working to get the power back on, but Moreno said that as the temperature drops, the work becomes more difficult for crews as roads ice up.

Airline flights in and out of Vancouver International Airport have been delayed and cancelled since the heavy snowfall, but now that the snow has stopped, the airport is struggling to get back to normal.

Many B.C. ferries between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island are running behind schedule because of the winter weather.

Victoria overwhelmed

In Greater Victoria, the snow forced BC Transit to cancel much of its service early Monday, but bus service improved later in the day in the capital city.

In the Victoria suburb of Saanich, residents are being asked to conserve water because power is out at local pumping stations. 

In nearby Langford, an emergency reception centre has been opened, so people who have no power can have a place to warm up, and a place to sleep. 

The University of Victoria was closed Monday, as were schools, recreation centres and many businesses across southern Vancouver Island.

Meanwhile, Victoria is preparing for colder temperatures that are being forecast, by opening five more homeless shelters.