WATCH: The winter weather has left a lot of people wondering when we last had this much snow, and if it beats ‘the big one’? Mary Griffin reports.
After a series of storms battered the South Island, there’s more snow coming, but the worst may be over with.
Environment Canada Meteorologist Armel Castellan says after a few last flurries, the series of storms that have battered the south coast will end.
“It will all come to a halt,” said Castellan.
“We’ll probably see the sun tomorrow. And temperatures might even hit three degrees.”
The amount of snow hitting Greater Victoria varied from 50 centimetres in North Saanich, to 14 centimetres in south Oak Bay.
“Here we are in North Saanich, British Columbia, where we never get any snow. Twenty inches!” Armstrong said in a video submitted to CHEK News.
Jesse Kenney demonstrated the amount of snow in her backyard with creative measuring.
“This is an 11.5 inch barbie doll. The snow is over her head!” Kenney said.
And meteorologists say amount of snow that dumped on Greater Victoria, is record-breaking.
“Very historic numbers there. If we look at just international airports since 1941, this is the snowiest February on record with now upwards of 50 centimetres for the month,” said Castellan.
According to Environment Canada, snowfall over the past 48 hours for Victoria Airport hit a record-breaking 51 centimetres.
Nanaimo received 39 centimetres, but unofficially the number is closer to 65 centimetres. The Comox Airport received 21 centimetres, and 45 centimetres fell in Ladysmith Sunday, but much more fell Monday.
It’s the storm of the century, the 21st century. But how does it measure up to the blizzard of 1996?
Sixty-five centimetres fell overnight on December 28th, 23 years ago. That monster dump made Victoria the only Canadian city west of eastern Ontario to officially record snowfall of more than 50 centimetres on a single day.
Mary Griffin
