City crews will likely have their hands full until the end of the weekend as they clean up the heavy snowfall that blasted through the Prince George area.
A heavy snowfall declaration has been issued by the City of Prince George as approximately 30 centimetres of snow fell in higher elevation neighbourhoods over the past 24 hours.
Director of Roads and Fleet, Jordan Wiseman told MyPGNow.com with temperatures rising by the weekend, cleanup efforts might become a little tricky.
“We anticipate with the warmer weather coming, we have crews moving snow as we speak and we hope to be cleaned up by Sunday or Monday depending on the weather and if we can use chloride to speed up the melt.”
“With the weight and the higher speed and higher volume areas, it packs down a lot tighter than it normally would than if it stayed around minus ten. Crews have to work a little bit harder to cut that compact ice.”
Wiseman stated the bowl area received roughly eight to ten inches, a little bit less than places like the Hart Highway and other higher elevations.
A heavy snowfall declaration means a shift in the City’s priorities:
- Nighttime snow clearing and removal in the downtown priority one and priority two areas will start an hour earlier (11 p.m. instead of 12 a.m.).
- Snow removal completion times get by extended by 24 hours for each additional eight centimetres of snow (on top of the initial 20 centimetres).
Equipment is starting on priority one and two routes in orange, yellow, and blue zones today (Wednesday).
Priority three routes will be completed only after the busiest streets are cleared.
The City reminds residents that winter parking regulations are still in effect, and are in place to help with snow and ice removal:
- Priority ones and the hospital district – On-street parking is prohibited from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- Downtown – On-street parking is prohibited from 12 a.m. to 7 a.m.
- Residential areas – On-street parking is prohibited from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Parking on the side of the street with odd house numbers is permitted from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. unless otherwise posted.
Illegally parked vehicles are subject to a $50 ticket per offence and/or may be towed.
However, Environment Canada slightly disagrees with the city’s final tally.
Both of their official weather stations saw nine centimetres recorded at YXS and another 16 centimetres inside city limits.
“It depends where the observation was taken. Measuring snow is an art form than a science type of thing. You have to do a number of measurements and come up with the average because we all know that snow drifts and it accumulates more in the city, that is where there is the discrepancy between the airport and in town.”
“Buildings and trees tend to trap snow so you have to do a whole bunch of measurements and even them out in order to get a good measurement.”
Lang added local residents shouldn’t be looking too far ahead in terms of the weather quite yet.
“It’s still March going into April and its a month that can still have snowfall. There is still cold air lurking around so I don’t think you should put away the snow shovels or take off the snow tires quite yet because there is still lots of spring to come.”
The weekend is calling for sunny skies and temperature of plus two and three degrees for Saturday and Sunday.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing pgnews@vistaradio.ca.
