VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you bought winter tires during last year’s brutal winter you may be getting your money’s worth this coming season.

Forecasters say there is a 60 per cent chance we will see another round of La Niña conditions over the winter months. That would mean cooler than average temperatures and the possibility of significant snowfall. Again.

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Joffrey Koeman, director of sales and marketing at Cypress Mountain, says if it pans out then it’s great news for the local ski hills. He adds they have made an addition to their runs in preparation for this season.

“There is a new gladed area which is called Sunshine Face which is at the skier’s right of top gun ski run and that’s a double-black diamond, so it’s definitely an advanced ski area that’s opening up this year.”

If La Niña doesn’t end up bringing a lot of fresh snow, Koeman says they have a plan for that too.

Cypress Mountain has expanded snow-making capabilities that now reach to the top of their Lions Express chairlift.

“What this will allow for is opening up more terrain earlier in the season when the demand is really high and in addition to that what we can do is, if there is a cold snap or we don’t get any precipitation for a while or any snow for a while, we can turn on the guns [and] refresh the slopes.”

When it comes to driving in the winter, at least one headache drivers faced last year may be eased.

The provincial government has announced it will spend $5 million to install a cable-sweeping system to battle the so-called ice bombs on the Alex Fraser and Port Mann Bridges. Both crossing were temporarily shut down or partially shut down several times last winter to deal with heavy chunks of ice and snow crashing down on people’s windshields.

A reminder that winter tires are a legal requirement on out-of-town highways as of October 1st and you have to keep them on until March 31st. Click here for more information about what drivers need to know.