City sees least amount of snowfall in 40 years
Climatologist says it's too early to tell if summer will bring low water levels, bad fire season
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
So far this winter, Yellowknife has received the least amount of snowfall in 40 years.
Anika von Allmen, left, and her mother Karin von Allmen take a ride on the Dettah ice road on Saturday morning. The ice road opened this winter on Jan. 6, a bit later than usual. According to the Department of Transportation, the 15-year average for its opening is Dec. 21. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo |
That is according to David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada. However, he said it is far too early to panic about low water levels or the upcoming forest-fire season.
"You've only had 57 per cent of your normal snowfall, the lowest level since 1976," Phillips said. "I think I might be a little nervous. But winter's not over."
The area has received 50 centimetres of snow so far this season rather than the 87 centimetres that has normally fallen by this time, according to Phillips. Last year, Yellowknife had 93 centimetres of snowfall by this time. The region only has about 21 centimetres of snow on the ground right now, the rest of it having either melted, evaporated or blown away.
Phillips blames the lack of snowfall on a milder than usual October and November.
"The seeds of this snow drought were sewn early in the game," he said. "The snowiest month of the year for you is usually November."
Milder temperatures are often accompanied by more snow but this has not been the case this year because the region's mild temperatures were influenced by warm weather from the U.S. Southwest, which did not come with a lot of moisture.
Phillips said it was about two and a half degrees milder than usual in November and December with the average temperature over those two months being -15.1 C compared to the normal -17.8 C.
"November was one of the warmest ever. You've had 11 (24-hour periods) at -30 or lower when normally you'd have 15 of those," he said. "The number of extreme cold days is down, the average is warmer and you've had the least amount of snow in 40 years. Obviously people are noticing it."
He said he won't have a good sense of whether the area will see drought conditions continue into summer until later this winter, when snowfall amounts are again measured.
A multi-year drought has had an enormous impact on the territory. Low water levels in the Snare Hydroelectric System forced the territorial government to subsidize the NWT Power Corporation with about $50 million for diesel power in 2014 and 2015. The drought also led to the worst forest-fire season in the territory's history in 2014 in terms of amount of area burned.
