Bone-chillingly cold temperatures are breaking records in Chilliwack Wednesday with flurries expected on and off throughout the day and night.
Wednesday saw the mercury plunge to -13.3 C, plus wind chill for the coldest minimum, which is more than 11 degrees below normal, according to Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada.
It’s day six of icy and snowy conditions with average snow depth on the ground at 26 centimetres.
City of Chilliwack is posting updates about its curbside waste collection Wednesday, and green carts will not be picked up on Jan. 15.
In terms of snow clearing operations, the winds are causing major problems with drifting snow especially in East Chilliwack and Greendale, according to Glen MacPherson, director of Operations.
“The roads remain icy and slick and we are continuing to spread sand and gravel,” he said, adding it’s too cold for the salt.
Thursday onward will see the start of a warming trend, and then city officials will be asking residents to clear the catch basins outside their homes, as Saturday will see a transition from snow to rain and slush.
Any residents on the City of Chilliwack curbside waste collection program might see waste collection either missed or delayed, for safety reasons, and if that’s the case they can put out double the amount next week.
“Waste collection will be attempted on Wednesday, except compostable waste,” according to city officials.
“Due to deteriorating conditions, Green Carts will not be serviced today to allow crews to focus on collecting garbage and recycling.”
Some glass tubs will be co-collected at the same time as garbage in split-body trucks, but in some areas it may not be possible to collect glass.
See updates and notifications on chilliwack.com/curbside.
“Missed garbage or glass would be collected on your next bi-weekly garbage/glass day and no tag-a-bag stickers would be required for the extra two bags/containers of garbage.
Wednesday’s low minimum of -13.3 was the coldest since -14 C was recorded on Jan. 18, 2012, according to Pannett.
From 8 p.m. Tuesday night to 7 a.m. Wednesday there was another 12.6 centimetres of snow.
Tuesday’s also very cold maximum was -11.0 C plus wind chill, which was almost 15 degrees below normal, and was the coldest day in Chilliwack since the -11.5 C on December 28, 1996, during the record-breaking Blizzard.
Some of the coldest ever on record for January 14 were the minimum temperature of -20.6 C and the maximum of -13.9 C in 1911.
Record low temps for January 15 include the -16.1 C in 1907 and the maximum -11.1 C in 1954.
READ MORE: Snow day Wednesday in Chilliwack for schools and UFV
READ MORE: Monday saw a snow day as well
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: jfeinberg@theprogress.com
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