City snow piles up, provincial flood concerns loom

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This article was published 14/02/2022 (1045 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just crossing the street in Winnipeg these days takes a little extra caution, as mountainous snow banks regularly block traffic from view. More than double the amount of snow has fallen this winter compared to the same time last year, and it’s swallowing the city at a furious pace.

“A lot of that snow we’ve had has all occurred since around Christmas,” said Rob Paola, a retired Environment Canada meteorologist who volunteers to measure snowfall in Winnipeg from his Charleswood home.

Before Tuesday’s added precipitation, Paola’s ruler had tallied up 132 centimetres of snow. That’s a stark contrast from 2021, when only 64 cm had fallen.

“It is quite significant,” he said.

While far from setting records, snowfall has exceeded the 30-year average in each of the last four months — including February, despite being only halfway done. And with historical snowfall in March exceeding that of February by four cm, the barrage is unlikely to end anytime soon.

The inundation also puts Manitoba at risk for spring flooding.

The province has yet to provide a spring flood outlook; a spokesperson said in an email the first report will be available later this week. However, the U.S. National Weather Service has reported a high risk for the Red River at the point it enters into Manitoba.

The U.S. outlook estimates a 65 per cent chance of “major” flooding this spring, meaning in this case river levels would hit 49 feet or deeper. The record depth at Pembina, N.D., was 54.94 feet in 1997 — the year marked in Manitobans’ mind as the “flood of the century.”

Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Natalie Hasell said while official monitoring falls to the province, she’s expecting some soggy days in southern and central Manitoba this spring.

“Based on the amount of snow that we’ve gotten and the amount of snow that the Americans have gotten in the Red River Valley basin, I would expect that there is a risk of flooding for this coming spring,” she said.

“With respect to the other rivers, I know southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta have been quite dry, so the Assiniboine might not be too bad. But central Saskatchewan would also be a concern, and that flows into central Manitoba.”

This winter has already pushed the City of Winnipeg to grant its public works department an additional $6.9 million to balance its 2021 budget.

Referring to costs for 2022 to this point, a spokesperson for the city said: “It’s premature to provide costs associated with recent snow clearing operations at this time as they are still being calculated.”

Annual snow clearing budgets typically hover around the $34-million mark, the spokesperson said.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca