WINTER WEATHER HITS WEST PRINCE
Several cars go off the road after sudden snowfall in the early morning hours of Thursday
Several cars go off the road after sudden snowfall in the early morning hours of Thursday
A sudden blast of winter weather Thursday caught many morning commuters off guard in Western P.E.I.
“It couldn’t have been a worse combination,” said Mike Berrigan, maintenance superintendent for Prince County.
“In between west of Richmond and Inverness, there was a band of snow went through there. At 6 o’clock the roads were still wet and then by 7 o’clock or so they started to snow over a bit.”
Snow plows and salt trucks were quickly dispatched, but by then motorists were already out, heading to work. He received several reports of vehicles off the road on the shoulders and in the ditches along Highway 2 in the Ellerslie area.
“Everybody was caught off guard; not too many vehicles with winter tires and (not) expecting that much snow this early,” he said.
Berrigan said none of the Highway Department’s recording stations showed the temperature dropping below zero, but as the snow kept falling it started to accumulate in places.
Besides the main road, snowclearing equipment was dispatched to the Cascumpec and West Point areas. There were also reports received of snow-loaded trees leaning over roads in the West Point area.
Lois LeClair at LeClair’s Tire and Automotive in Alberton said she was expecting a busy day at the shop after hearing reports of heavy snowfall. And she was right.
“The phone has not stopped ringing,” she said, noting many people were calling for prices on winter tires and scheduling appointments for getting their tires changed.
“People are talking snow tires,” said Nora Currie at Keven’s Front End Services in Bloomfield, acknowledging a spike in the number of calls.