It’s spring, and if you live in the Great White North, you never know what type of weather Mother Nature will spring on you. A year ago, Mother Nature hit my home town of Thunder Bay, Ontario with a major spring snowstorm (you can read about that by clicking here). A year later, Mother Nature slammed us again.
Last month Thunder Bay finally started getting milder weather. The snow was melting, road crews were out and about cleaning streets of sand and salt, people ventured out into their yards and began raking. By the last week of April, all the snow was gone, the city looked good, and citizens of Thunder Bay actually believed that spring had sprung. There were even a few days that residents could go outside in t-shirts and expose their pasty skin to sunlight and much needed vitamin D. And then it happened…weather reports indicated that two major storms (one from the west and one from the south) were moving towards our city, with Thunder Bay being the bull’s-eye for both storms. Weather forecasters were 100% certain that Thunder Bay was going to be hit with the two storms; However, the weather forecasters were not sure what type of precipitation we were going to receive, as our temperatures were going to drop and hover around the zero degree Celsius mark. So, the question was…would Thunder Bay get a snowstorm, an ice storm, or just lots of rain? (hint: for the answer, refer to the title of this POD)
After it was all said and done, Thunder Bay received over 30 hours of freezing precipitation, most of it as freezing rain which left a thick coating of ice everywhere. That was followed by a few hours of ice crystal precipitation.
The city ground to a halt. For two days, schools and businesses closed as roads and sidewalks became skating rinks.
The ice accumulations also caused power outages as tree branches began to break from the weight of the ice, sometimes crashing onto power lines and bringing them down.
As I looked out of my living room window, I knew conditions outside were hazardous, but the danger became even more apparent as I carefully walked down my front stairs.
Then I looked at my vehicle, which looked more like an ice sculpture than a minivan.
Then I looked at the garbage can and bags I had placed curbside the night before, and of course were still there since city crews couldn’t pick them up due to the weather. The bags which contained our yard waste looked more like oversized ice cubes, and the garbage can looked like a tall frosted glass.
The grass looked more like glass, and stepping on it sounded just like stepping on broken glass.
The appearance of the trees and shrubs around my yard made me feel like I was in a scene from the movie “Frozen”.
I looked at my home’s air conditioner and thought I won’t be needing it’s services anytime soon.
The chain link fence from the schoolyard across the street looked like this:
This bus stop looked more like half igloo and half bus stop.
As I penguin walked home, I saw my new neighbor trying to get into his ice covered car. I smiled at him and said…”Ice to meet you!” The look he gave me was cold as ice.
