We were all digging out this morning (Mon) from varying amounts of snowfall.
In Duncan 35 centimeters of snow fell in the last 24 hours, 33 in Shawnigan Lake, 22 in Cobble Hill, 30 in Chemainus, Mill Bay and on the Malahat.
Nanaimo got anywhere from 20 to 40 centimeters and Ladysmith was buried under 40 centimeters of snow.
Environment Canada meteorologist, Armel Castellan is forecasting a similar snow event to hit us today, tonight and tomorrow and a snowfall warning has been issued.
“We are looking at, depending on the location, 2 to 4 centimeters this afternoon, another ten, or even up to 15 especially on the Island tonight and then another 5 tomorrow. So, this is another snowmaker for sure.”
With the exception of the Brentwood Bay-Mill Bay route which is about 40 minutes behind, ferries seem to be running on time.
Some Vancouver Island residents are still without power after a windstorm on Saturday.
Mainroads is trying to get caught up before the next wave of snow hits us.
Operations Manager, Chris Cowley described where they are at.
“We’ve got a pretty good handle on what we call our “A” class roads, so that’s the main numbered routes, Highway 17, 14, 18 and one. We are breaking off and trying to get a handle on the side roads.”
The Malahat closed for a couple of hours last night.
“A transport truck heading up there got stuck and slid back and then a few other cars on the other side as well (got stuck). So, as soon as a vehicle stalls on the Malahat and our trucks can’t cycle we can lose control of it pretty quick considering the amount of accumulation we got in a short window last night. The RCMP and Ministry of Transportation decided to close the Malahat until we could get all the vehicles off of it and then we could cycle a few times and then it reopened.”
Cowley said it’s important not to pass a snowplow because there are a number of blades on the truck where the snow could be shooting out from.
Once the new snow begins to fall, Mainroads will leave the side roads again and shift back to the main routes to try to keep them clear.
Most BC Transit routes are running on what’s called winter routing.
The spokesperson for BC Transit is Jonathon Dyck.
“We continually re-evaluate the roads throughout the day and make decisions about what type of service levels we can operate and implement detours and cancellations as appropriate. Of course, it’s our top priority to run all routes on schedule but on days like today when you are having adverse weather events and adverse road conditions we have to make sure we are keeping safety top of mind and that’s what we are doing on the Island and Sunshine Coast.”
In the Cowichan Valley, the commuter bus is running but handy dart service has been canceled.
Garbage collection is, for the most part, canceled today.
In North Cowichan, all curbside collection is canceled for today (Mon) and tomorrow (Tues).
The Municipality said it will let residents know as soon as there’s a plan for making up the pick-ups.
Curbside collection is canceled in Shawnigan Lake as well.
The trucks will be back on the regularly scheduled collection day.
