(file photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Roads safety

Town asking residents not to pile snow on roads

Mar 10, 2022 | 1:57 PM

Heading into the final stretch of winter, the Town of Battleford is urging residents not to heap their snow on the roads when they are clearing their properties.

The issue arose at this week’s council meeting.

“Please stop pushing your snow into the street,” Mayor Ames Leslie said. “Not only is it against town bylaws and you can be charged for it but it becomes dangerous and it can wreck vehicles.”

He noted there has been a large uptake of snow moved into the streets by people recently.

Leslie said he understands there is a great deal of snow and people run out of places to put it. But he said they can’t just reposition it to the road.

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He added that the town’s crews have been doing a tremendous job removing the snow this winter and keeping the streets clear.

The town said there are other options for people who find themselves snowed in.

The public safety officer said on the town’s website that snow that can’t be stockpiled on people’s lots must be hauled away.

Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang said precipitation or melted snow is measured, but not snowfall per se.

The amount of total precipitation this winter in the Battlefords has been noticeable but not out of the ordinary.

“It can be deceiving because a lot of the snow we get here on the Prairies is quite fluffy,” Lang said. “It looks like a lot of snow, but when you melt it down it doesn’t amount to a lot of precipitation.”

There has been a total 36.6 millimetres of precipitation in the Battlefords from December to the end of February this winter, compared to a 30-year average of 39.1 millimetres.

However, because it has been colder than average this winter, the snow has stayed around longer.

Looking at standing snow depth, there is currently 22 centimetres of snow on the ground in the local area. In comparison, the 30-year average for snow depth at the end of February is 15 centimetres.

“So what it is showing is that the snow pack is deeper than average, even though there hasn’t been more precipitation,” Lang said. “It’s just fluffier snow. You tend to get fluffy snow in colder temperatures.”

The area has seen an average temperature of -16.4 Celsius from December to February, colder than the 30-year average of minus -14.1 C.

“It came in as the 26th coldest winter in 80 years,” Lang said. “If people thought it was colder than average or it seemed like a colder winter, it has been on average. That does speak to the snow that has fallen and how much we haven’t lost. We haven’t lost a lot to melting.”

On a positive note, Lang said because the snow pack on the ground is lasting longer that should be good news to area farmers.

“Hopefully, we can have a spring where it melts slowly so it can be absorbed into the ground,” she said.

—

Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow