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Cold snap stalls cars, freezes pipes Coldest November since 1990 and frigid start to December wreak havoc on motorists and homeownersLaura Busch Northern News Services Published Friday, December 14, 2012
Ron Poitras, owner and operator of Pick's Steam, said that he has been responding to eight to 10 calls per day for frozen sewer and water lines.
Most of these calls come from those living in mobile homes because pipes in those residences tend to be more exposed to the elements, he said. He suggested trailer owners pack snow against their homes to stop the wind from getting to the pipes. "It picked up when it got cold but a lot of the things I'm telling to people is, if they're in trailers, make sure under the trailer is packed with snow," said Poitras. D.J. Clark, owner and operator of DJ's Towing, said he and his crew responded to 52 calls this past Monday and 30 calls Tuesday. Most of these calls were to either boost or tow vehicles that had died because of the cold. "It's been really busy," he said, adding that he usually receives about five or six such calls per day. Clark said the majority of calls come in after owners fail to plug in their vehicles. The general rule of thumb is that vehicles start to die at -30 C and not plugging your car in during a cold snap is a sure way to find yourself stranded in the cold, he said. Lee Hysert, owner and operator of Precision Electric, has also been responding to more emergency calls of late, although he added regular scheduled appointments tend to get cancelled in cold weather. "Right now, trying to do anything outside because of the cold, the wires break on you," he said. Most electrical emergencies caused by cold have to do with parking lot plugs being overloaded or cords snapping in the cold, he said. However, he has also responded to a few calls where breaker boxes or other electrical components were placed near a draft and froze. Typically, drivers would do well to purchase a cord rated for cold temperatures - different than regular extension cords - and make sure that they hold both the extension cord plug and the plug on the cord coming out of the vehicle when plugging and unplugging vehicles, he said. The cold weather has not set any records so far and there is likely more to come later into the season, said a meteorologist with the Arctic Weather Office in Edmonton. "I usually don't like to agree with the long-range models because they are not always the most accurate," said Yvonne Bilan-Wallace. "This year the models are really determined to keep us cold." November ended with a mean temperature of -17.5 C, making it the ninth coldest November on record and the coldest since 1990, Bilan-Wallace told Yellowknifer. To date in December, air temperatures have yet to fall below -40 C, although Sunday and Monday came very close with recorded minimum temperatures of -39.6 C. In order to set record lows and start contending with other areas of the country like Northern Manitoba for coldest region, air temperatures generally have to fall below the -40 C threshold, said Bilan-Wallace. After factoring in the wind chill, the temperature dropped to as low as -49 C during the first two weeks of December. While it has undoubtedly been cold, Yellowknifers likely won't experience the worst that Old Man Winter has to offer until the new year, said Bilan-Wallace. "The North still has some heat so you don't actually experience your coldest temperatures until January or early February," she said. In all, the winter of 2012-13 promises to be very different than last year, when Yellowknife recorded its second-warmest winter on record and set record high temperatures throughout the season. "The beauty of weather is that no two years are the same," said Bilan-Wallace. "It keeps you on your toes and you always have to be prepared and make sure you have your parka handy."
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