THUNDER BAY — The weather outside isn’t as frightful Monday afternoon as it was overnight and into the morning.
Thunder Bay got hit with its first major winter storm of the season, but as the snow tapered off, all that was left was the clean-up.
Snow was flying through the air as residents across the city broke out their shovels, fined-tuned their snowblowers and bundled up as temperatures dipped to -6 C to take care of the mess.
Among those on driveway duty was Bruce Hill, who said he welcomed the snow, especially after last winter was severely lacking in the white stuff.
“It’s not Christmas without snow and it’s not too much. We got spoiled,” Hill said.
“It was unexpected in a way. I thought it was going to be the same as last year. I have a picture out my front window on Dec. 14 and there was no snow at all. The street was wet and the grass was still green. Now, holy mackerel.”
Across the street his Walsh Street neighbour, Ron Moro, was equally happy, though a little more snow-covered, to be out giving his snow blower its first winter test.
“Last year we had such a mild winter and I kind of missed the snow over Christmas because the temperature was so warm. So, we’re getting back into it, getting some exercise. The only problem I have is the plow comes by and leaves a foot drift, so I’ve got to go do that after. But that’s all right,” Moro said.
Environment Canada issued a winter weather warning on Sunday, advising that up to 30 centimetres of snow could fall on Thunder Bay overnight and into Monday.
City clean-up crews were out in force ensuring traffic could continue to flow.
Ian Spoljaric, roads manager for the City of Thunder Bay, said it’s business as usual, after a one-year anomaly.
“It’s a big difference from last year. Last year we had a lot warmer weather, a lot of rain, a lot of ice to deal with. This year we got the big snow dump off the bat here, so we’re taking it as it comes,” he said.
Crews started snow plowing at 2 a.m. on Monday, focusing on arterial, emergency and collector routes.
Spoljaric said residential streets would be next, with a 72-hour window to get them all cleared.
He urged patience from those whose streets are not yet cleared.
“We focus on those priority routes first … We want to make sure those are safe first, and then we’ll get to those residential streets,” Spoljaric said.
Environment Canada is calling for a chance of flurries on Wednesday and Friday, with temperatures expected to drop drastically from Wednesday through Friday. Overnight lows could dip as far as -26 C.
