Warm temperatures bringing big melt to Calgary

Calgary had the big snow, now get ready for the big melt.

Temperatures on the plus side of the thermometer will be here by the weekend, with double digit highs possible early next week.

With higher than average snowfall over the last couple months, Manager of Waste Water and Storm Water Collection Corey Colbran expects issues with water on the streets.

“If we can keep the catch basins clear, that’s one thing that we can do ahead of the melt, you know from our perspective and partnering with the public to have them help us keep those catch basins clear of snow,” he said.

He said if residents do see standing water which hasn’t cleared in 90 minutes, call 311.

“We can dispatch crews on a priority basis to go and deal with those kinds of situations where we may have either standing water or water that has melted and frozen overnight because we’re going to be going through these freeze/thaw cycles,” he explained.

Colbran said the last thing they want is someone getting hurt in pooling water, or chipping away at frozen patches.

There may be some fears of rivers spilling over their banks, but Colbran said it’s just too early to say if that should be a concern.

“A lot of things have to conspire against us, the most significant being rainfall upstream of Calgary and so we’re not anticipating that at this point,” he said.
“With this warming trend, I think the more significant piece over the short term here is the melting in the streets.”

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