With Arctic air combining with a snowfall warning, no one knew late last week what weather was coming.
What did appear to be clear, though, was that the Cowichan Lake area would continue to be less affected by the worst of the storms than the eastern side of Vancouver Island.
Thursday morning, Environment Canada said that more snow was expected later that day as another area of low pressure approached B.C.’s south coast. However with temperatures of -4 C still prevalent in Duncan and other areas at mid-morning, the trend towards milder conditions was muted, and temperatures were expected to remain near the freezing mark as night approached.
Travel warnings were issued to motorists for the rush hour as snow started to fall Thursday afternoon, with possibly as much as five to 10 centimetres expected by Friday morning, depending on location.
Location is everything. Because much of the real nastiness recently had been coming up from the Strait of Georgia, it was losing some of its punch before it passed Hill 60.
However, the possibility of a transition to rain at some point made predicting exactly what would happen at any hour tricky for meteorologists.
Public schools, which had been closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, were open again on Thursday, as crews had been able to clear parking lots and accesses midweek following the earlier heaviest dumps of snow.
Vancouver Island University’s Cowichan campus also re-opened for classes on Thursday.
Island Health urged everyone, particularly seniors, to be extremely cautious when they venture outdoors in snowy and icy conditions, as they are especially at risk of suffering serious injuries from slips and falls.
The agency also said, “Only use hospital emergency departments for urgent and acute medical issues. Emergency departments are busier than usual with slip and fall incidents, fractures and motor vehicle crash victims.”
When removing snow, be aware of the physical strain of shovelling snow, Island Health said. It’s important to pace yourself, particularly when lifting heavy, wet snow.
And finally, be a good neighbour. Helping seniors and others who may have challenges clearing their walks or driveways keeps us all safe.
Valley residents have also been keeping up with their neighbours on social media, pointing out danger areas and volunteering to help with snow clearing. They’ve been reminding everyone to clear heavy snow off sheds and garages so it doesn’t become an additional problem.
In Lake Cowichan, town workers made every effort to clear the snow, falling behind a little because they stop at nightfall, but starting early every day, Town CAO Joe Fernandez said, adding, “The only bad thing was that sometimes the snow outpaced our work crew’s ability to keep up but overall they did an excellent job.”