[The Great Scaper]

Here's some photos of the Blizzard of 96.

The snow was pretty deep almost 5 feet deep. So unfortunately I didn't have anyways of traveling to get city shots etc. I also only had disposable cameras. So these photos again were scanned from some old photos I found.

I had about 80 photos but in scanning them one at time I had to pick and choose. I had some other really cool ones but I may post them later some time.

Neighbors deck
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/2213353335_502672a4e8_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2025/2213353369_5e5148085d_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2187/2213353377_69f7d5ab9b_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2130/2214145842_da27356a89_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/2214145890_5600379f61_o.jpg

This was my little car!!!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2325/2213353453_ea44756c67_o.jpg

you can see the impression of the car in the snow. Scanning lost some of the detail but you can still see it.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2255/2214145948_0ae4e9b35f_o.jpg

Clearing our driveway...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2315/2213353517_39bfdfdc91_o.jpg

Neighbors houses again...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2136/2213353553_336e251b2f_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2058/2213353653_aee4d4e8c1_b.jpg

These people, our neighbors were so funny and nice!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2214146116_51ff2f4da9_o.jpg

Their poor mustang..
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/2214146146_10ab3cbfc2_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2035/2214146172_9469bee076_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2395/2213353775_562728291d_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2172/2213353809_949c8b426f_o.jpg

[SpongeG]

<3

I remember that one

we couldn't get out of our building for a few days

not only was the driveway un passable the street was too - there were little paths made into the snow for people to walk along

[Ayreonaut]

That's awesome. I can hardly remember snow like that (except in the mountains), it seems like we used to get snow like that, but I was smaller so maybe it just seemed deeper.

[Only The Lonely..]

Funny, Manitoba had a blizzard in the winter of '97 too.

And more importantly a flood a few weeks later.

I think that was an El Nino year, goofy weather occured across the country from what I recall.

Grand Forks ND, an hour and a half south of Winnipeg.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/imint/images/cn15464.jpg

Along the Red River..
http://www.severeweather.state.mn.us/Images/EGF_97-AlongtheRed-River.jpg

Downtown river walk at the Forks flooded..
http://mkolar.org/travel/MB/flood97/flood9.jpg

THANK GOD FOR THE FLOODWAY!! :banana: :cheers: :drowning: :Titanic: :apple: :fruit: :banaride: :awesome:

[mr.x]

i remember that too....back then, the snow was higher than i was.

[SpongeG]

its funny cause at work there was this weird girl and i remember the one day it snowed but it was still driveable and everyone but this girl came into work cause she couldn't make it because of the snow

the next day after a whole day and night of non stop snow no one made it into work at all due to undriveable conditions

everyone except for the one girl who called in the day before - she drove all the way to Coquitlam from Vancouver and got to the office to discover no one else made it

when we finally did get in we all wondered how she couldn't make it the day we all came in but teh day no one could come in she made it - lol

i remember it was quite eerie how dead the roads were for that couple of days - me and my room mate at the time went and sat in a mcdonalds and laughed at people trying to drive up north road of the very few who dared to venture out

[Boris2k7]

Looks similar to St. Patrick's Day '98 here in Calgary... the only snow-day that I ever received while in grade school...

[vid]

There was a parking lot in front of my old place, after the blizzard in 96 or 97, it was full of huge snow hills. Perfect for snow mountain climbing. :)

I was 8 at the time and yes, it was a big deal.

[niwell]

Looks similar to St. Patrick's Day '98 here in Calgary... the only snow-day that I ever received while in grade school...

I remember that day well!

[skrish]

Looks similar to St. Patrick's Day '98 here in Calgary... the only snow-day that I ever received while in grade school...

I remember that. I was in Junior High then.

[The Great Scaper]

It still hasn't snowed this year at all. I know Vancouver's had a bit but just rain and sun here :( .

That was an insane snowfall. Victoria got hit the hardest too which is the weirdest thing since we are the last to get snow usually. I remember there was almost 2 feet of snow on the ground before that big storm hit. As much as I'd love it to snow again, that was just way too much!!!

[MolsonExport]

I remember this storm, Van also got hit badly (not as bad as Victoria)...it took me 3 hours to drive to work through unplowed roads/highways.

[Western Spaghetti]

Looks similar to St. Patrick's Day '98 here in Calgary... the only snow-day that I ever received while in grade school...

That was an h-bomb of a blizzard!

[204]

Grand Forks ND, an hour and a half south of Winnipeg.


More like 2 and 1/2 hours.

[Jarrod]

I was in Victoria during that blizzard... Got the first and only flight to vancouver that day

[raggedy13]

For whatever reason that day doesn't stand out in my memory at all. Maybe we didn't get much snow in White Rock (we definitely didn't get as much as in those pictures - I would've remembered that). I probably had a snow day at school though, but apparently it wasn't eventful enough to stay in my long term memory. I was probably pretty unconnected to the news back then as well.

Looks like a crazy amount of snow in Victoria anyways. Great pics Great Scraper.

[aastra]

As much as I'd love it to snow again, that was just way too much!!!


I'd love for that to happen again. I did my best to go out and experience it and appreciate it (and videotape it), but darn it all if it isn't such a distant memory now.

I remember walking down to the big playing field by my place on the Saturday night. It had already snowed a lot on Friday, so here's this big field that you just know the neighbourhood kids must have made a mess on all day Saturday, and yet there wasn't a trace of human activity left by 10pm or so. I'd never seen fresh snow come along and bury a previous snow day like that.

And then along came the huge dump overnight, and Sunday was like visiting the planet Hoth. Snow right up over the tops of the basement windows. I'm sure there was a long while during which there wasn't a motorized vehicle moving anywhere in Victoria.

The Friday all by itself would probably have been a candidate for the biggest snow I've ever seen in Victoria. Then Saturday came and blew it away. Then Sunday came and people couldn't believe it.

[jcornell]

umm, you got some snow on the ground

[aastra]

Yep. About 65 cm in 24 hours and about 150 cm over the entire weekend.

For purposes of comparison, Ottawa's record snowfall for 24 hours in December is...37 cm.

[Ruckus]

Wow, I have never seen so much snow in a city, and Victoria of all places :cool:

[someone123]

People tend to associate heavy snowfall with frigid temperatures but in reality most heavy accumulation like this happens around freezing. It's below freezing right now in BC, although partly that's because it's clear outside. It takes exceptional conditions for it to be both very wet and cold, although during a typical year both Victoria and Vancouver do get a significant amount of snow (40-50 cm).

[The Great Scaper]

Looks like a crazy amount of snow in Victoria anyways. Great pics Great Scraper.

Thanks Raggedy!!!

Aastra in a way I guess it would be cool if it snow that much. I guess in the other way, now that I have a bobcat I'd be working non stop! :D If anything I just wish it would snow at least once this year... I mean come on already!!!

If I am correct Victoria holds or did hold the largest snowfall in 24 hours. I guess cause we're right no the west coast and if a big pacific storm happens to hit during an artic outflow, we get hit hard. It just doesn't happen very often.

96 was our last white Christmas too. I have some photos of that kicking around too. I'll have to dig up those photos. I remember we had a good four inches at christmas and we just kept getting hit harder and harder every other day with snow falls. It was pretty fun, but by the end of it, there was no where to go or nothing to do. The whole city of Victoria just shut down!

So.... give me at least a little snow this year!!! :D :tup:

[The Great Scaper]

Wow that took a while to find!!! :D

This is a photo from my Mom's condo (she no longer lives there) looking over the Royal Oak Golf Course.

Christmas Morning 1996 Victoria B.C. Before the several other big snow falls.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/2215661731_947d597197.jpg?v=0

[bc2mb]

i also remember this growing up.. nanaimo got a ton of snow too.. it was unbelievable.

i am sure CHEK is still making royalties off their Blizzard of 96 videos... oh the hysteria!!

[aastra]

Scaper, I'm pretty sure the yards in the city didn't look like that on Christmas Day. I remember it as one of the big ironies of that blizzard, that we still didn't manage to get a real white Christmas out of it. There was snow on the ground from a day or two before, but it was looking pretty weak on Christmas Day. And then the big snow came a few days later.

I could be wrong, but that's how I remember it.

[The Great Scaper]

Interesting,

This was taken over the Royal Golf Course, the elevation there is quite a bit higher than Downtown that's for sure.

I did have snow on my yard, quite a bit, about 3 inches, again I lived out by Glandford and Quadra. Maybe it was more of a suburban snowfall.

OHHHH, Please let snow at least once this year!!! :D

[Wishblade]

Wow, I have never seen so much snow in a city, and Victoria of all places :cool:

Look up 'White Juan' for Halifax, NS. 95-105cm in 24 hours. Happened in 2004 and I don't think I'll ever forget that one lol.

[Only The Lonely..]

Look up 'White Juan' for Halifax, NS. 95-105cm in 24 hours. Happened in 2004 and I don't think I'll ever forget that one lol.

I remember that making the news in Manitoba.

[Only The Lonely..]

More like 2 and 1/2 hours.

I guess I drive a lot faster than most. Man, I love the U.S. interstate system.

[204]

I guess I drive a lot faster than most. Man, I love the U.S. interstate system.

It's an hour just to the border on crappy old PTH 75. It's 145 miles to Grand Forks itself.

To get there in an hour and a half you'd basically have to be driving about 100 miles an hour the whole way (and not stop at the border).

(Sorry this is OT)

[The Great Scaper]

What do you mean this is O.T. ?

Hey do any of you guys have photos of the big N.S. storm?

Also this maybe a stupid question but why call it White Jaun? :)

[someone123]

It is called White Juan because it followed Hurricane Juan.

Juan (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartlikestreetcar/358846484/):
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/358846484_a567473386.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Pleasant_Park
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/PPPComparison.JPG

White Juan (from http://www.bluevodachat.com/chat/viewtopic.php?p=39&sid=62a9a5fb42e29665aae25699b1342d6b):
http://bluevodachat.com/chat/userpix/2_P1010083_1.jpg

http://bluevodachat.com/chat/userpix/2_sIMGP0558_1.jpg

[The Great Scaper]

That's amazing. I always forget you guys get Hurricanes every now and then.

Victoria was hit by a hurricane in the last century. I'll have to do some research on that. I've seen photos of what it did. It supposedly hit Vancouver pretty hard too.

Interesting I forgot all about that.

[zoomer]

It takes exceptional conditions for it to be both very wet and cold, although during a typical year both Victoria and Vancouver do get a significant amount of snow (40-50 cm).

I see from the stats that Victoria has the lowest annual snowfall rate in Canada at 43.80 cm, but I'm thinking this must take into account the big dumps we get once a decade or so. During a typical year we don't get 40-50 cm of snow. I've lived in Victoria for 24 years now, and I can only remember two or three times where we've had big snowfalls. Most years we get virtually no snow in Victoria, maybe every third year or so will we get a a couple times when it snows. My youngest daughter was 5 years old before she ever even got a chance to play in any snow as in the previous years we only had a few light dustings which melted within hours. She was so excited the first time she got to play in the snow. Of course in the mountains surrounding Victoria they will get more snow than we do closer to downtown.

I wish I could find a stat somewhere on the actual number of days it snowed, and how much each day (and maybe even the days it snowed on)..that would be cool.

By the way, great pictures Scaper!! Brings back memories!

[someone123]

Environment Canada has climate normals and climate data. The normals are compiled statistics and the data are recorded weather conditions for specific time intervals: http://climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/Welcome_e.html

For Victoria Int'l they have the number of days with snowfall above different thresholds. These amounts would probably be higher than in the city.

The annual total is inflated in the sense that the total does not come entirely from real snow storms. If 1 mm of snow falls at 4 a.m. and melts almost immediately, this counts towards the total, even if nobody really notices it. Of course, this is true in every city. Places like Calgary have 50+ days of snowfall but most of them are just light dustings.

[zoomer]

/\thanks for the link...tons of interesting stats there, still would like to see total days for each specified year. Such as how many days of rain a city had in 1978, how many days over 30 C etc, for each year for which there are records.

Yah, your explanation makes sense about how they measure snowfall, it doesn't matter if it melts when it hits the ground, it's the fact it's coming down as snow. Also the weather stations closer to downtown get about 27 cm of snow per year according to the above site.

As long as Victoria doesn't flood I'm hoping for a bit of global warming! An ideal winter for me would be overnight lows no lower than say 8 C, and the winter highs no lower than 13. Asking for a bit much I know..

[The Great Scaper]

Well it finally snowed in Victoria today. Just a few inches but enough to cover streets and lawns. So it wasn't a total bust this year! :D

[someone123]

As long as Victoria doesn't flood I'm hoping for a bit of global warming! An ideal winter for me would be overnight lows no lower than say 8 C, and the winter highs no lower than 13. Asking for a bit much I know..

I wonder how much it actually makes a difference and how much people just get used to whatever conditions they have to live in. Maybe if you lived in San Francisco you'd be wishing for San Diego. Every year there are "cold" summer day that are much warmer than the "warm" winter days. Of course, there's a point at which that falls apart. Some weather is just miserable, and in some places people probably take it completely for granted.

[The Great Scaper]

I agree. I love Victoria's climate. I mean sure it rained of and on the last three days, but looking at the rest of the Country, Wow I'll take it, and there's been sun everyday too. Even Vancouver got hit hard with the snow. The Prairies is like -40 right now. So yeah it's not Mauii, but it could be worse. Sorry you Albertan's out there! hehehehehe.

Anyways I agree with your thoughts Some... However it would have been nice to have a little bit more snow that the few inches we had for one day...Oh well at least we had a bit of snow!!! :D

[Nicko999]

I agree. I love Victoria's climate. I mean sure it rained of and on the last three days, but looking at the rest of the Country, Wow I'll take it, and there's been sun everyday too. Even Vancouver got hit hard with the snow. The Prairies is like -40 right now. So yeah it's not Mauii, but it could be worse. Sorry you Albertan's out there! hehehehehe.

Anyways I agree with your thoughts Some... However it would have been nice to have a little bit more snow that the few inches we had for one day...Oh well at least we had a bit of snow!!! :D

Sure, Victoria's climate is probably the greatest during winter but it's too little cool during summer if you compare to other cities in Canada. You can go swimming in a outdoor pool that often.

For sure, Victoria is great during winter, but a little too cool during summer.

[vid]

Well Victoria sounds lovely to me. I hate swimming anyway. :)

[Nicko999]

Well Victoria sounds lovely to me. I hate swimming anyway. :)

Oh, if you hate swimming, Victoria is the perfect place for you!:)

[vid]

Thunder Bay is just as fine. :P It's either too cold or too muddy to swim in anything here. Or it's closed because of seagull shit.

"Let's close the entire bay off so that water can't drain out of it! That will make a wonderful beach!!"
"I can't see anything wrong with that! Let's call it Chippewa!!!!"

[The Great Scaper]

Vid, your idea is funny, but what will you do with all the Seagull Shit? :D

See I like the summers here. I'm not one for extreme heat, yet because of the high humidity, it seems really hot. But when it does get hot, Wow, the humidity is aweful. I assume Toronto is a bit like that being by the large lakes. I'm not one for the dry heat, it makes my nose bleed!

By the way there are some good lakes close by, some are quite nice actually. I agree with the Ocean though...bloody cold! But Great for Salmon Fishing!!! hahahaaha....

I guess you have to pick and choose. I really need to go for a road trip back east someday! I maybe going to New York in April! That will be fun! :tup:

[vid]

They just put up a sign that says something to the effect of "Due to seagull shit and improper drainage, this beach is not suitable for swimming."

Most of the summer here is actually pretty good, it doesn't get as hot as the south though it can get humid, but its never really too dry either.

[The Great Scaper]

Dude that's funny.

Do you have a photo of that sign? That'd be such a funny sign to see! :D

[noodlenoodle]

Keep in mind that Victoria dumps its raw sewage into the ocean. No treatment! Seagull poop or human poop, that's the crux of this debate.

[Jarrod]

I like the weather in Alberta. But then again, I like the cold.

[aastra]

I went swimming at Witty's Lagoon in Metchosin a couple of years ago. I'd never been there in my life, but what a great spot for swimming! The tide goes way out, the bottom is mostly sand, and the water temperature in the shallows can be perfectly comfortable on a hot day.

[vid]

Dude that's funny.

Do you have a photo of that sign? That'd be such a funny sign to see! :D

Its a temporary thing tied to the orange construction fence they use. The beach was actually opened last summer anyway, I think they deepened the channel or something? Boulevard Lake gets E-Coli a lot as well, mainly due to geese. They use signs on posts that says "Due to E-Coli, swimming in this lake is not recommended." It also has poor drainage.

And unlike Victoria, Thunder Bay has world class sewage treatment facilities. Our water infrastructure is the best in the Great Lakes! :notacrook: You could drink what comes out of our sewage treatment plant. :)

[The Great Scaper]

Yeah I know the whole sewage debate. I talked to a realtor here in Victoria last weekend and she thinks it's a sham. That the raw sewage isn't really raw that it is screened and prosses and what gets pumped out into the straight is about the same as a 20 people peeing in one of the Great Lakes.

I see both sides, I just hope they make a good decision. Victoria always seems to wait past the last minute then to peas everybody they do a shit job of something that just makes you shake your head. Like the Arena.

Anyways, I'd love to see that sing posted up, that's so funny!!!

Aastra
That is a nice place to go swimming. I went down there last summer myself. The shallow water makes it quite warm actually. Like the beach at Parksville.