Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (May 10/02) - Don't bring out the beach towels yet is the message from Environment Canada's arctic weather office in Edmonton.

While some may be inclined to scoff at meteorologists' predictions time to time, Environment Canada has been calling for a late spring since last December.

And if last week's blizzard is any indication, winter still has some life in it yet.

"Certainly, conditions have been well below average all across Canada, especially Western Canada," said Environment Canada forecaster Serge Besner last Thursday. "It looks like it'll be at least two to three weeks (before temperatures return to normal)."

The month began last week with a record snowfall, shattering the old record of 10 centimetres with 17.1 centimetres on May 1 in Fort Simpson. Winds gusted to 60 km/h, covering the ground with a fresh blanket of snow in a matter of hours.

Temperatures also dipped well below the seasonal norm of 3 C set for the beginning of the month, and stayed that way into the weekend.

While temperatures began to climb again this week, reaching 11 C yesterday, Besner said Deh Cho residents shouldn't hold their breath waiting for spring. Forecasts are calling for cooler temperatures over the weekend, with a high of 6 C Saturday.

"The jet stream is still way below where it usually should be this time of year," said Besner. The good news, however, is that when spring finally does come, it will likely hit with a bang.

"It's going to be drastic," said Besner. "It'll be like winter one day and summer the next."

Despite the cooler temperatures at present, superintendent of transportation Les Shaw said they will likely have little effect on ferry service coming in on schedule.

"The (Liard) river's starting to lift," said Shaw. "We should see some snapping and cracking by mid- (next) week."

Last year the Liard River crossing opened to ferry service May 12. Shaw predicts the ferry will be online by May 15-20, with the Ndulee ferry crossing at Wrigley opening a week to 10 days later.

"With the sun as high as it is, it doesn't matter what the surface temperature is," said Shaw.