THE BIG MELT
Truck crashes through guard rail on Saanich street
A truck is towed out after crashing through a guard rail and coming to rest against a house on Clovelly Terrace in Saanich on Thursday. All over Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, B.C. Hydro crews worked to restore power to thousands of customers in the wake of this week’s big snowfalls. Streets and sidewalks were a slushy mess as the temperature hit 11 C.
The big melt continues in the wake of Wednesday’s heavy snow, leaving Greater Victoria streets and sidewalks a slushy mess.
The temperatures hit a high of 11 C Thursday. That, combined with periods of rain, meant that snow was disappearing steadily throughout the day. More than 20 millimetres of rain fell overnight Wednesday, both at Victoria International Airport and Gonzales Point.
The warm temperatures should continue, said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan.
“The warm front is just so strong that we’re anticipating those temperatures to start to crest,” he said.
“It should be fairly quick, and I think that’s what’s really going to do a number on the snowpack.”
He said localized flooding could become a concern.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the City of Victoria had received only two calls about pooling water on the roads, said Fraser Work, the city’s director of engineering and public works.
That’s because crews have been working hard clearing slush and wet snow from catch basins, Work said, putting in two overnight shifts this week.
Crews will back to a regular schedule today, he said. “We’ve assessed the risk and it looks good.”
However, the combination of heavy rain and melting snow led to overflows of stormwater and wastewater along part of Victoria’s shoreline.
Areas affected are around Macaulay Point between Saxe Point Park and Victoria View Road, and around McMicking Point between Trafalgar Park and Radcliffe Lane. Public-health advisory signs will be posted at beaches.
Greater Victoria saw 9.0 cm of snow at the airport Wednesday, Castellan said, short of the Feb. 8 record of 10.9 cm set in 1959. The overall accumulation since the beginning of February peaked at 32.8 cm at the airport.
Castellan said Wednesday’s snowfall resulted in record totals for some Island communities, such as Campbell River — where it continued to snow on Thursday.
The city got 27.8 cm of snow on Wednesday, topping the Feb. 8 record of 17.4 cm set in 2001. By Thursday, a total of 60 cm had accumulated — smashing the previous record of 17 cm, set in 1990, for Feb. 9.
B.C. Hydro crews were busy Thursday night dealing with the damage wrought by the storms.
More than 14,000 customers were affected on the South Island on Wednesday night, along with 7,700 on the North Island.
As of 10 p.m. Thursday, about 7,500 were still without power. More than 100 spans of wire were down on the Gulf Islands, the utility said. Five crews were at work, with more scheduled to arrive this morning on the first ferries. In Duncan, 15 crews were expected to work through the night.
Snow, branches fouling lines and fallen trees were cited as causes of the power cuts.