A ferocious winter storm in the Dawson Creek, B.C. area means buses and trucks coming into the territory will likely be delayed.

Local Greyhound bus manager Tyler Johnson said this morning the company is expecting to keep its usual schedule from Whitehorse to Dawson Creek by having a bus leave at 1:30 this afternoon.

Those hoping to greet passengers or pick up freight on the regularly scheduled arrival time into Whitehorse of 4:30 a.m. Thursday, however, will have to wait until Saturday.

Similarly, Jim Palamar, the local Super Valu co-owner and manager, said he was informed this morning the grocery delivery truck scheduled to arrive in the territory tomorrow may not get here until Friday.

'It'll be pretty tight,' he said of keeping the store shelves stocked on Thursday.

It's not the first time a truck has been behind schedule.

While some of the shelves could be a little bit bare by Thursday night, Palamar noted there's not a lot that can be done about it. It simply means the store will likely get two trucks in on Friday, he said.

This morning, B.C. officials strongly recommended that motorists not travel in the area.

Emergency rescue crews were attempting to reach the occupants of vehicles already stuck in high snowdrifts along Braden Road between the Alaska Highway and the Hart Highway between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.

Rescuers on snowmachines had contacted the occupants of 16 vehicles by early this afternoon.

It was recommended to drivers that they remain in their vehicles until the crews could get to them.

Radio stations in B.C. also broadcast recommendations to drivers from officials to keep warm by periodically running their vehicles and keeping the window slightly open to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Temperatures in the region were about -40 C with the wind chill.

The Canadian Press contributed to this story.