Clearing out Fort St. John’s holiday snowfall

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The City of Fort St. John is busy clearing the streets after over ten centimetres of snow fell over the holidays.

Environment Canada said the city got a total of 14 centimetres of snow between the 25th and 27th of December. Most of the snow, around ten centimetres, fell on December 27th.

Compared to the 12 centimetres reported in December 2021, this year’s amount may seem like a lot. However, according to Environment Canada, the 24 centimetres Fort St. John received this season is about average. 

There is still the matter of removing the snow, something the City of Fort St. John is hard at work on. 

Ryan Harvey, with the City of Fort St. John, said crews have been out clearing the roads and that another haul-off is planned for Wednesday evening.

A haul-off is when snow is loaded into a truck and hauled away to a separate snow dumping location.

Harvey said that crews are working as quickly as possible to clear the roads and are well aware of the conditions. 

“We live in a northern community that gets a lot of snow, and we’re all in this together,” Harvey said. “Our staff live here, and they drive on the same roads to get to work.” 

The city clears snow from 357.7 kilometres of roadways, prioritizing roads such as those in the downtown core and school zones. Once those roads have been cared for, the city moves to second-priority areas such as residential zones.

For more information on road priority for snow removal, including a map, please visit the City of Fort St. John’s website.