On Friday, Environment Canada issued weather statements for the Kingston area, calling for a mix of heavy rain on Saturday that would change to freezing rain overnight, then snow by Sunday morning.
The City of Kingston was prepared, and many residents are now dealing with the aftermath.
“A bit of a nightmare.”
Queen’s University alumnus Lukas Sacco was in Kingston for one night from Toronto, saying goodbye to friends as he leaves to continue his studies in New Zealand.
His car was caked in snow and ice.
“First of all I couldn’t get into this door, the lock is messed up,” said Sacco, gesturing to the passenger-side door. “So I had to go through the trunk, climb through and open the passenger side door, from the inside.
“And I couldn’t get the driver side door open, either, so I had to go through the inside again and open the other door.”
The city, meanwhile, had 30 crews in plows and sanders at the ready.
“We monitored the forecast,” said Bill Linnen, director of Kingston Public Works, which is responsible for keeping the city’s roads and sidewalks safe.
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“We had the crews and trucks ready for when the precipitation started.
The mixed precipitation changed to snow just after 8 a.m. Sunday.
“They are sanding and salting all roads, high-pedestrian sidewalks, express bus routes and any hard surfaces that the city maintains,” says Linnen.
Just after 10 a.m. on Sunday, Environment Canada cancelled the freezing rain and warnings for Kingston and area.
The region dodged the worst of the freezing rain, but the flooding presented a challenge for residents.
“We would get anywhere from four to six inches of water,” says William Wallin, who lives in the city’s midtown area.
“As soon as it starts raining, the ground is frozen and it can’t go into the soil and it pools onto of the grass.”
In some parts of the city, between 25 and 50 millimeters of rainfall was received, but overall, the storm wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
But given there are still three solid months of winter left, it’s a reminder that we’re not in the clear just yet.
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