Remember this time a year ago?
Thanks to two large snowstorms in the Estevan area, the snow drifts were several feet high in some locations. Those who drive small cars had a tough time seeing around the enormous snow piles that accumulated around the city.
There was a nice snowstorm in late November 2016 that covered the city with a thick blanket of snow. And there was a not-so-nice blizzard that virtually shut the community down for two days, because the streets were so plugged up.
(It wouldn’t be the last storm to hit the city in 2016, either, as Mother Nature delivered a nice Christmas gift to the city in the form of a snowstorm on Dec. 25).
Needless to say, the last few weeks of fall in 2017 have been pretty tame compared to what we experienced last year.
There have been a few cold days in December, but we haven’t experienced the temperatures that we’re accustomed to feeling. There have been few nights in which people have needed to plug in their vehicles, but there hasn’t been a prolonged cold snap.
Indeed, most of the coldest nights were in early November, rather than the first couple weeks of December.
This has been great news for the City of Estevan, which overspent its snow removal budget due to the amount of snow that fell from Jan. 1 to mid-March this year. Granted, it’s unlikely the City of Estevan received many complaints about snow removal spending in the winter of 2016-17 (we never received a jeer for Cheers and Jeers regarding snow removal expenses).
But the city was crossing its fingers that snowfall would be minimal in November and December of this year, and that the first big dump wouldn’t come until early in 2018.
It appears the wish might be granted. There isn’t a big snowstorm in the 14-day forecast, at least not yet.
And there are certainly those who are hoping the snow will stay away the rest of the winter.
So who is looking forward to some snow, outside of newspaper reporters, who want write a story about a blizzard? Well, you have the farmers, who need the moisture after very dry conditions for much of this year. Even an average amount of snowfall would go a long ways in replenishing moisture levels.
You also have those who enjoy such activities as snowmobiling. They haven’t had many opportunities to use their sleds locally the last few winters. Most years, they have been forced to sled elsewhere.
And frankly, the area looks better with a healthy layer of snow on the ground. White fluffy snow looks better than frozen brown grass.
So we do look forward to the snow coming. But the later it happens, the better. Snow in January sounds just fine with us.
