Even with snow falling steadily from late Friday through Sunday, few woke up on Monday morning to realize that getting out of their yards might prove to be impossible.
Merrill Palmer, who reports daily weather observations from Lister to Environment Canada, said that the 24-hour period leading up to Monday morning saw 43.5 cm of snow collect on his weather station. That’s the equivalent of 43 mm of rain.
“That’s a lot of rain,” he said.
Early on Monday morning School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) announced the closure of all schools for the day. Town of Creston snowploughs were on the job early, but the massive drifts caused by wind slowed the clearing process because there was nowhere to put the snow.
Canyon Street sidewalks were made virtually impassible by snowdrifts and parking was impossible due to the accumulation of ploughed snow.
By Monday afternoon countless residents were busy with shovels, hoping clear skies meant the snowstorm had come to an end. Neighbours with snowblowers or small ploughs went from driveway to driveway to help others out.
On Canyon Street. volunteers including Creston Fire Department Work Experience Program firefighters worked to clear sidewalks. Residents whose memories date back more than a half century said they could not remember a similar weather event. By Tuesday morning driving and walking conditions had improved only margnally.
