Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Nov 23/01) - The ground has been white since early October and the snow just keeps piling higher.

It's great for snowmobilers and kids who love to tunnel through the colossal snow banks.

In these early days of winter, 42 centimetres has already accumulated in Fort Simpson, according to April Bell, an observer/communicator at the Fort Simpson airport. That's considerably more than the 29 centimetres of snow covering the ground by this time last year, Bell said.

In 29 years living in Fort Simpson, Sharon Herring said her husband, John, has never had to shovel the snow off their garage roof before Christmas. Not this year -- he already did it two weeks ago because it was getting too deep.

"This is the most snow and the warmest that we've had for a long time," Sharon said.

She also pointed out how warm it was on Remembrance Day this year as opposed to years at -30 C with a cold, brisk wind.

In Fort Providence, Margaret Vandell agreed that the weather seems peculiar. She said she and her husband, Norman, encountered rain near the Bluefish Creek while driving home from Yellowknife last week. Vandell can't recall ever having seen rain in the North in mid-November.

"And for this time of the year there's lots and lots of snow," she said. "Usually you see snow close to this amount in January or February."

The mild temperatures make her concerned for hunters and trappers, not only because furs are thicker and fuller in cold weather, but also because there is still water that isn't frozen under all the snow, which can make it difficult and perhaps dangerous to travel on the land.