City prepares for first significant snowfall of the winter

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This article was published 10/01/2024 (665 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AFTER an uncharacteristically mild start to the winter, more typical weather for this time of year is making an appearance, and while some might be dreading the cold and snow, others couldn’t be happier.

“We have been eagerly awaiting this,” said Laurie Penton, who manages the Windsor Park Nordic Centre, a recreational facility operated by the Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba.

“The last two years it snowed on Remembrance Day… so there’s all kinds of pent-up demand, people just itching to go skiing, and we now have some snow. We are ready.”

Up to 15 centimetres of snow is expected to fall in the city, tapering off by late Thursday evening.

An Alberta clipper (a fast-moving low-pressure system) passing through southern Manitoba is causing the first significant snowfall of the season.

Blowing snow and reduced visibility will be a concern Wednesday evening throughout the day Thursday.

But when the wind settles, Penton expects the Nordic centre, will be busy for the first time this winter.

“It’ll be a lower-profit year for sure. But you take the good with the bad,” he said, noting 65,000 visitors used the facility last year.

“Last year was a record year, our biggest year ever. So feast and famine, sort of. But we can roll with that.”

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Natalie Hasell said Wednesday that temperatures are about to plunge, with forecast lows ranging from -19 C to -27 C.

While the rest of January is expected to be closer to normal conditions, this year’s prevailing El Niño atmospheric phenomenon means Winnipeg could experience above-normal temperatures for the rest of the winter.

“The forecast that was issued at the end of December still suggests above-normal for January, February, March together,” Hasell said.

“But El Niño doesn’t mean you don’t get variability. We’re experiencing it right now. We’ll still have lows and highs go through the area, and each one will bring its own weather.”

The city snow-clearing team was preparing to hit the streets Wednesday.

“I’ve learned not to expect, but to be ready for anything. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to get, but we’re going to get something,” streets and transportation department maintenance manager Michael Cantor said.

“And we’re just ready the same, whether we’re going to get 10 or 15 (centimetres).”

Cantor said streets maintenance staff are watching the forecast closely, ensuring they have enough sand (it will be too cold to put down salt).

The annual winter route parking ban won’t be in effect until Tuesday, meaning until then, parking is allowed on streets marked with winter route signs between 2 and 7 a.m.

Snow-clearing was to begin Wednesday night, with sidewalks and back lanes being cleaned based on priority. High-priority sidewalks include those along major routes, non-regional bus routes, near elementary schools, active living centres and some downtown walkways. They’re expected to be cleaned within 36 hours after a storm’s ends

Lower-priority sidewalks, including those along residential streets, are normally completed within five weekdays once cleaning begins.

What’s different this year is that the amount of snowfall that triggers a clearing effort has been reduced to five centimetres from eight and the addition of 15 new snow plows, boosting the city’s fleet from 31 to 46.

Cantor called the change “significant” and a way to help keep to the time frames promised in the city’s snow-clearing policy.

The streets department is working with a $34-million snow-clearing budget.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca