Old Man Winter bears down
Published Tuesday December 23rd, 2008
Storm | It will take a few days to clean up the mess in region
Capital region residents spent Monday digging out from a blizzard that dumped 37 centimetres of snow on the Fredericton area.
Stanley, Boiestown and Millville picked up 40 centimetres, while the highest snowfall was in Bathurst at 41 centimetres, said Environment Canada spokesman Claude Cote.
Miscou Island reported winds of 100 kilometres per hour, but wind speeds in Fredericton peaked at 76 kilometres per hour Monday at 3 a.m., Cote said.
"I missed it. I was sleeping," Cote said.
Strong winds continued throughout the day Monday, causing white-out conditions on local roads.
Provincial and city government offices were closed until noon Monday.
Cote said today should be a good travel day for people driving to visit family and friends for the Christmas holidays.
Wednesday will see the introduction of a warm front and a possible one to three centimetres of wet snow.
"It's going to be mild," Cote said.
On Thursday, Fredericton should see warm temperatures and possibly five centimetres of wet snow.
Four-wheel drives, private plow operators and city and Department of Transportation work crews dominated streets Monday.
Many driveways into businesses along Prospect Street were blocked with mounds of snow.
The blizzard brought countless closures and even sidelined transport trucks during the overnight hours.
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown was on minimum operations until noon. The Gagetown Military Family Resource Centre was closed for the day.
City transit buses delayed starting Monday bus runs until 8 a.m.
All across the city, dentists' and doctors' offices, daycare centres and some businesses either kept their doors closed until noon or shut down for the day.
Value Village closed for the morning, while uptown stores opened as parking lots were cleared. A number of downtown businesses remained closed until the noon hour.
Most banks kept their doors shut until noon or 1 p.m. Monday, but some closed for the entire day, such as BMO branches and a few Scotiabank branches.
Willie O'Ree Place was closed and most sports practices were cancelled.
Mail delivery in Stanley was cancelled.
At Fredericton International Airport, flights in and out of Fredericton on Sunday night were scrubbed due to poor weather from Ontario east.
The Monday morning flight to and from Halifax was cancelled.
Fredericton International Airport CEO David Innes expected to see flights back on schedule by Monday afternoon.
Fredericton bore the brunt of power outages. Of the 7,906 customers in the province without power, 5,206 were in the Fredericton area. Another 1,000 customers in and around Woodstock lost power.
While winds died back to between 30 and 50 km/h over the daytime Monday, they created drifts and swirled snow flurries through the air for most of the day Monday.
Brent Grant, acting manager of roads and streets for the city, said crews plowed through the night Monday and punched open main streets, but crews can't work 36 hours straight.
After a rest during the day Monday, snow removal operators resumed plowing and pushing back snow starting at midnight today.
"We're doing all right with all the snow we've had," Grant said. "Our biggest problem is going to be opening the sidewalks. They're (sidewalk plows) into an awful fight against these big banks."
Grant said it would take the better part of the week to tidy up the mess and get side streets cleared.
The Fredericton Police Force had a few minor fender benders and reports of drivers getting stuck, but no serious accidents.
On the provincial scene, Highway 2 through the Tantramar Marsh between New Brunswick and the Nova Scotia border was closed due to poor visibility Monday until 1:20 p.m.
Highway 8 between Miramichi and Bathurst was closed for 1.5 hours due to poor visibility.
Ferry services at Gagetown, Evandale and Deer Island were cancelled Monday due to strong winds and ice conditions.
Roads continue to be snow-packed and slippery, said Department of Transportation spokesman Andrew Holland.
The province has stockpiled 100,000 tonnes of salt and 400,000 tonnes of sand to start battling this winter's weather, Holland said.
Drivers should check the Department of Transportation's website at www.gnb.ca/transportation to view its 36 web cameras to see road conditions before setting out.
There's also a toll-free number where you can speak to a person about road conditions.
Call 1-800-561-4063 for the most recent road and weather information.
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No Heather, they didn't start their runs until noon.