Photo: The Canadian Press
Snow removal signs and snow piled up on the street are shown in Yellowknife, NWT, on Friday, November 25, 2022. Residents and city staff in the capital of the Northwest Territories are struggling to cope with the onslaught of snow.
Residents and city staff in the capital of the Northwest Territories are struggling to cope with the onslaught of snow.
Longtime Yellowknife and former territorial politician Kieran Testart says he was backing out of his driveway Friday morning when he got stuck in a snowdrift that had formed overnight.
“I had done what I could to clear it, but there’s so much of it that shovels really aren’t enough,” he said. “I haven’t seen him like this in a long, long time.”
Testart said he was rescued by a neighbor who was driving around pulling out other drivers stuck in the snow.
“When snow paralyzes a community, it affects everything from schools to the economy to public safety,” he said.
Chris Greencorn, the city’s director of public works and engineering, said the snow this month is nearly six times what fell at this time last year.
“It pushed us almost to the limit,” he said. “All our teams work day and night.
Adding to the problem, Greencorn said, is that many residents shovel snow from their driveways onto the road, which is against city bylaws.
“(It) makes it difficult for smaller cars and people with mobility impairments to get around,” he said.
Greencorn said that although some residents have expressed frustration with the city’s snow removal efforts, Yellowknife’s budget is based on historical trends and currently allows for eight plows.
The city said Friday it plans to work with contractors over the weekend and into next week to increase snow removal and winter road maintenance in Yellowknife.
Sarah Hoffman, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said Tuesday that Yellowknife saw 46.6 centimeters of snow, compared to a 30-year average of 31.9 centimeters. But she said that was nowhere near the November record of 85.5 centimeters in Yellowknife, set in 2006.
Hoffman said this month was also warmer than usual for the city, with an average of -10 C compared to a historical average of about -14 C. The warmest November on record in Yellowknife was in 1983, when average temperature of -5.9 C.
But the high temperatures are not expected to last. Hoffman said a cold snap is coming as early as Monday, when temperatures are expected to drop more than 10 degrees below this month’s average.
“It can be a little shocking,” she said. “It’s going to be a very sharp change in temperatures.”
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