As Islanders finish digging out from the last blast of winter weather, there’s more snow on the way.
Environment Canada is issuing a snowfall warning for Greater Victoria and East Vancouver Island, with 5 to 10 centimetres expected to fall this evening. The alert has road crews across the island at the ready.
“We’re busy moving some sand into some strategic locations,” says Emcon spokesperson Andrew Gaetz.
“We’re getting all of our plows all checked over, getting all of our brine trucks ready to go for pre-storm applications.’
With an arctic outflow trapping much of B.C. in a deep freeze, Emcon has been busy trying to keep up.
“Just before Christmas time we started seeing a lot of black ice and freezing rain events and then going into the snowfall we’ve had as of late,” says Gaetz.
“Everybody’s been 24/7 trying to get everything cleared and cleaned up.”
Road conditions have also led to several accidents across the island, with tow truck operators experiencing a high volume of calls.
“The calls have been coming in non-stop,” says Westshore Towing owner Dave LeQuesne.
“We have been busy as well as other towers on the island.”
LeQuesne says that with more flurries on the way drivers need to adjust to changing road conditions and make sure that their vehicles are ready.
“We’re seeing a lot of tires that are bald, that shouldn’t be on the road in a rainy day let alone in an icy day,” says LeQuesne.
“All-wheel-drive doesn’t mean you have all-wheel stop either … adjust your driving, take extra time to get where you’re going.”
The cold weather is expected to stick around until the weekend when temperatures will climb back above freezing.
Cole Sorenson
