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Wednesday, January 7, 2015
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Leafs fall, twice
Climbing gym set to open
Vol. 7 • Issue 54
Wall work nearing completion
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Rough weekend for Nelson
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B-b-b-braving the icy waters on New Year’s Day Approximately 75 Nelsonites plunged into the ice-cold waters of Kootenay Lake on Thursday morning for the annual Polar Bear Swim. See story on Page 2. Will Johnson photo
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Nelsonites digging out after huge dump of snow
Weathering a winter storm GrEG nESTErOFF and Tamara Hynd Nelson Star
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West Kootenay residents didn’t get much of a break from shovelling as a winter storm that began Sunday remained in the area for two days. Following the heaviest dump of snow in Nelson in recent years — just shy of 14 inches (35.5 cm) fell outside the Star office between Sunday night and 11 a.m. Monday — another 7.6 cm fell from Monday evening to Tuesday morning at the Castlegar airport, according to forecasters at the Southeast
Fire Centre. “It’s the biggest dump I’ve seen since I moved here six years ago,” weather specialist Jesse Ellis said. “It’s definitely the most significant dump so far this winter, but falls short of the record.” The single-day January snowfall record in Castlegar is 44 cm, set in 1969. The all-time record of 46 cm was set December 24, 1965. Nelson-specific records are not available online from Environment Canada. While the snow we received was predicted, Ellis said it was of lower density than he expected, meaning that it piled
up higher than expected. As temperatures rose above zero, freezing rain began to fall. Over the next couple of days, fellow forecaster Chris Cowan said, “Things will dry out and no snow is expected until the weekend, but even then it will be nowhere near the amounts we just received.” Power was out Monday in the Slocan Valley for 1,200 customers between Passmore and Slocan City after a large tree came down on a line, possibly as a result of the snow. FortisBC’s Michael Allison said electricity was restored by late afternoon.
The Kootenay Pass was closed 30 km west of Creston for avalanche debris removal and reopened Tuesday. Highway 31 was closed from seven to nine kilometres south of Meadow Creek because of high avalanche hazard. It was also closed from 12 to 22 km north of Trout Lake for part of Monday. There was also a travel advisory for Highway 6 due to heavy snow. Highways contractor YRB said they were working under numerous advisories and heavy snowfall warnings. Continued on Page 3
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