Snow Days

Hello everyone!

As you might have guessed from my title, right now we are going to be talking about snow days.
It's those days of grace in the winter time that help so much when you have projects due or anything else.
Now, he's an article from the North Bay Nugget:


Snow Day
School buses cancelled, snowplows out in force, shovellers' backs aching
Posted By JENNIFER HAMILTON-MCCHARLES, THE NUGGET
Updated 13 days ago

Global warming -- bah humbug.
The hum of snowblowers could be heard throughout the city as residents recovered their vehicles buried in Sunday night's snowfall.
North Bay received 18.6 centimetres of snow from 7 p. m. Sunday through to 1 p. m. Monday . Snow is expected to fall through the week.
According to Environment Canada, about 14 centimetres of snow is expected through to Friday. The heaviest is expected to come Thursday with an estimated 10 centimetres of snowfall.
I've got to kill some of this winter," said John Pelland, as he brushed the snow off his vehicle.
I hibernate now just like a bear. I go in November and I don't come out until spring," he said.
I used to like the cold winters, but now I have to go somewhere every winter. This year it's Cuba."
Not everyone was prepared for the big dump" that blanketed North Bay and area Sunday night and roughout Monday.
Tony Vannelli souped up his tractor to tackle Northern Ontario winters.
Continued After Advertisement Below
Advertisement

Usually we don't get a big dump of snow until the second week of December," he said, as he took a break from clearing driveways.
But we got quite a big one today. It's definitely here to stay."
Vannelli said he used his tractor to tackle the snow, but he will then move onto the snow blower before grabbing the shovel to do the walkways and steps.
There's so much I just might not get all the properties done today," he said.
One driveway isn't bad, but several is exhausting. It's heavy and sticky, it's good snowball weather."
Ted Bond didn't mind pitching in and helping his neighbours get mobile.
When you get a big snowfall like this, you help out your neighbours."
A few residents, like Tracy Matton, had to rescue her Christmas decorations that were blowing down the street or hiding underneath a blanket of snow.
It's crazy out here," she said, pulling her Christmas lights from the snow bank.
But it's getting everyone in the spirit, especially the kids. They love the snow."
Shoshana Turnbull loves snow days.
School buses across the region were cancelled due to weather conditions, so the five-year-old spent her morning sliding down a hill in her babysitter's front yard.
Snow days are so much fun, because all you do is play," Shoshana said.
Nipissing-Parry Sound Student Transportation Services cancelled bus service in North Bay and Parry Sound, however schools remained opened.
Snow removal kicked into high gear early Monday morning as public works crews tried to keep roads cleared before the early morning rush hour.
The city's public works department is putting motorists on notice.
Cliff Scott, roads supervisor for the department, said Thibeault Terrace and Trout Lake near Lake Heights are
trouble areas" when it comes to overnight parking.
He said the parking authority will be ticketing vehicles at midnight and, should the problem persist, vehicles parking overnight on city streets will be towed.
Scott said plows were on the roads by 4 a. m. and were to return this morning.
All streets will be plowed at least once today (Monday)," he said.
The snow is thick and sticky and the sidewalks are really messy."
Antoine Boucher, municipal engineer for East Ferris Township, said the goal is always to get everything cleared by rush hour.
We're using a lot of hours and some overtime is being built up, but we're trying to catch up."
The scenery in West Nipissing isn't that different.
Luc Rifou, manager of public works for the municipality, said snow removal crews are a little slower due to the mild temperatures creating wet and heavy snow.
He said the last roads were plowed Monday at about 10:30 a. m.
Not everyone was finding ways to get rid of the snow.
Grant Fullerton, president of the North Bay Snowmobile Club, said crews were out grooming trails Monday.
We have enough snow now, but what we don't have is the cold weather," he said.
We need ponds to freeze. The lakes are open. It's actually really bad."
Environment Canada released its three-month forecast Monday, predicting colder than normal temperatures through February for large swaths of the country and less snow than last year.
The forecast calls for colder than usual temperatures for Northern Ontario, a good chunk" of the eastern Prairies and British Columbia.
Southern and central Ontario, most of Alberta and southern Saskatchewan will see near normal conditions."
Quebec, starting in the Eastern Townships, and most of Atlantic Canada will experience warmer than normal" weather.
That's the prediction, but the indicators Environment Canada climatologists usually look to, like ocean temperatures, are up and down."
This year there is no El Nino or La Nina -ocean-atmosphere phenomena in the Pacific Ocean which influence global weather patterns.
When it comes to snow, Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips admits that's a hard one to nail down. But he predicts less snow for parts of Canada hardest hit last year by record snowfalls.
There's just no way we're going to see as much snow as last year, even though we're calling for precipitation in December, January and February as being wetter than normal."