Winter in Spring

Monday, March 22, 2010

By Dwight Ford

Spring officially arrived during the weekend but in this area it marked the return of winter.

After spring-like conditions for about the last official seven weeks of winter we received 4 centimetres of snow yesterday.

In addition, according to an Environment Canada snowfall warning forecast for all the BC Peace weather stations at Fort St. John, Dawson Creek and Chetwynd...by this afternoon the storm total could be 10 to 15 centimetres.

Add in the six centimetres received last Thursday and the total for the last five days could be more than 20 centimetres.

That's about 20 times more than this region received in the 45 days prior to last Thursday.

Meantime, the high last Thursday of minus 4.1 ended a 21 one day string of highs above freezing and although we got back above zero during the weekend, its now expected to be at least next Saturday before we get there again.

So the bottom line for motorists this morning, as we begin another work week, is to prepare and allow for winter-like road conditons, and adjust your driving habits accordingly.