A couple of die-hards snowboard down the forelorn track at Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver at the beginning of the month. Like many others it has shut down due to a record lack of snow
Photo Credit: Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Canada, a tale of two weather extremes

In west coast Canada the winter has been unusually mild. The Yukon Sourdough Festival in the far northern city of Whitehorse had to bring in snow for the snow carving event.

On Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser river, the snow pack is at its lowest ever.

null
Light Blue line- max snow depth: Red line-previous record low: Dark Blue line- this year’s record low snow depth

As many cities on the west coast draw their drinking water from streams and rivers which in turn rely on melting snow from the mountains, there is now concern about adequate supply later in the year.

Several ski resorts on the west coast are already closed, having had little to no snow at all.

null
Standing on greenery where there should be snow, Mark Angelo, rivers chairman of the Outdoor Recreational Council of B.C, says he’s never seen such a lack of snow, and fears for the future of salmon and trout if the water in lakes, rivers, and streams is too low and too warm. © CBC

Many are also concerned about the salmon returning with streams possibly running at too low levels. Temperatures are also predicted to be up to 10 Celsius in southern British Columbia this weekend.

Mark Angelo,taught in the fish and wildlife program at the B.C. Institute of Technology for 37 years, and is the rivers chair for the Outdoor Recreational Council of B.C.  “You could have increased mortality among resident fish, or among young salmon rearing in creeks like this,” Angelo said, speaking on Tuesday to CBC reporter Jeff Harrington at the side of Beaver Creek, which feeds into Deer Lake at the town of Burnaby.

The creek is home to fish such as trout and salmon. Fish throughout the south coast, Vancouver Island and much of the province could be affected by the conditions if they don’t improve, said Angelo.

Meanwhile, much of central and eastern Canada has had record snowfall and Arctic cold for the past month.

null
From New Brunswick, to PEI, to Nova Scotia, to Newfoundland, the maritimes have been hit by blizzard after blizzard this year. © CBC

Southern cities like Windsor and Toronto Ontario have had cold weather records broken, while much of February has had cold temperatures with wind chill equivalents throughout southern Ontario, Quebec and the maritimes of between -20 to -30C or colder.

null
Record snow and high winds blew into massive drifts. This is the tunnel a Summerside P.E.I. man had to dig from his house out to the street to find his car. © CBC

Halifax, Nova Scotia had the additional hardship of a couple of major freezing rain events to coat everything with a thick layer of rock hard ice.

While spring seems to arrived far too early in much of the west coast, for eastern Canada, it can’t come too soon.

CN Train ploughs through heavy snow in New Brunswick

Categories: Environment & Animal Life
Tags: , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.