Vancouver Snow Chaos Continues

A snarled mess of cars in downtown Vancouver 

Today was another snow day... overnight Vancouver received some 10 cm of fresh snow and I spent a good hour or so shovelling again. This time it was harder as freezing rain was coming down so the snow was heavier to shovel. 

The freezing rain lifted when I almost finished the shovelling (figures) and just to be safe I went back to salt the sidewalks and our walkway. I also managed to locate the city water drains underneath the snow and clear them.

Port Mann Bridge was shut down most of the day

That's because this afternoon temperatures were going from minus 3 degrees to plus 1 degree and rain.

Despite the rising temperatures, everyone was advised not to go out as the roads were extra slick -- and judging from the traffic reports I heard in the morning and afternoon, there were a lot of cars spun out, got into accidents -- or even lost their wheels.

The weather situation was so bad that even the Port Mann and Alex Fraser bridges were shut down from later morning onwards. Skytrain was struggling and so were the buses and ferries. 

Shop owners are fretting with yet another shopping day lost before Christmas. Tomorrow will be a mad rush if anyone has left their gift-buying to the last minute. Some news reports say business owners are already looking towards Boxing Day to make up for pre-Christmas sales. 

And there are still people stranded at Vancouver International Airport, but finally YVR has stepped up and offered hotel rooms to passengers who have been stuck there for days, with priority for the elderly, and with young children. They are also trying to sort out Christmas meals for people who are still here on Sunday.

Late yesterday WestJet proactively cancelled all its flights at YVR and Toronto Pearson and Air Canada cancelled most of its flights too, which gave YVR an opportunity to clear its backlog and allow international flights to land. 

After almost three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, people were hoping to meet up with friends and loved ones, and now a nasty winter storm has prevented many from meeting up. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day -- with temperatures shooting up to 7 degrees! And more rain...