Vernon hit with second snowfall as first is cleaned up

With more snow in the forecast, North Okanagan and Shuswap residents are being reminded to make way for crews who are working to clear their streets.

Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning from Vernon to Sicamous, somewhere in the area of 10 to 15 centimetres, set to fall Friday.

“A Pacific frontal system combined with lingering cold air will bring periods of heavy snow today,” reads the alert. ” Snow will taper off late this evening.”

For Vernon snow removal crews, it will add to the already gargantuan task they’ve been at since last Tuesday when what ended up being 15 cm of snow fell on the region.

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“So we have shifts that start at 4 a.m., and the majority of the crew will come in on a snow event at that time,” Ian Adkins, roads, drainage and airport manager said. “Day shift is around 7 a.m. and then we’ll have staff on until later in the evening, sometimes up until midnight, its just really weather dependent on how that storm can go.”

To help with that work the City of Vernon wants residents who park on the street to move their vehicles, to allow crews to continue their snow removal efforts.

“Some of the equipment is a bit larger, and some of the areas with this amount of heavy snow, it would be really beneficial if residents can get vehicles off the streets, to allow crews that time to clean up,” he said.

“There may be some areas that they’re going to see some no parking signs go up around the community.”

Adkins said all residents can help by removing snow from their driveways and walkways, and onto their own properties.

“If you see any storm drains or anything that are potentially covered, just making sure if you can open it up, that’s great,” he said. “If you can’t for whatever reason, call the city operations yard and let us know so we can make sure those get cleaned up as well.”

For the most part, the clearing effort in Vernon is coming together well, according to area resident Doug MacLeod.

“So far so good, lots of streets and we knew it was coming. I saw them putting down the brine, and they did the main streets when they could,” MacLeod said. “It was a lot of snow real quick, but its Canada so you’ve gotta be ready for this.”

While MacLeod has seen a quick response, city crews can take crews up to 72 hours to reach all areas once the snow has stopped falling.