So much for mythical global warming!!!
Hanneke Brooymans, Gordon Kent and Chris Zdeb, Canwest News Service
April 21, 2008
http://www.nationalpost.com:80/news/story.html?id=461865
Spring has turned into a cruel joke in Western Canada, where a
late-season blizzard dumped heavy snow on much of Alberta Sunday and a
cold snap may have devastated fruit crops across the border in B.C.
As much as 60% of the apricot crop and 50% of the sweet cherries and
peaches could be lost to the freezing temperatures of the last few days
in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley.
"It is very, very serious for us right now," said Hank Markgraf,
horticultural manager for the Okanagan Tree Fruit Company.
"I'm born and raised in the industry and I can remember the last 20 to
25 year pretty well and I've never seen it like this. This is pretty
bad."
Over the weekend some of the interior saw snowfall. But it was really
Monday night's drastic dip to -11C in some places that was the death
knell for soft fruit.
According to Environment Canada there is little relief for the next few
days as nighttime temperatures continue to dip to as low as -3C in some
areas.
Christine Dendy, owner of a cherry orchard in Kelowna, is looking at
losing up to 50% of her crop and she says less fruit going to market
will also likely mean higher prices at the grocery stores.
"I would think it would be a premium this year, for sure," said Dendy.
Back in Alberta, the RCMP closed a portion of the southbound lane of
Highway 2 Monday to investigate a fatal collision. A tractor-trailer
crashed near the off-ramp for Didsbury, about 233 kilometres south of
Edmonton. Road conditions may have been a factor in the crash.
Further north on the same highway, a Greyhound bus slid into a pickup
Sunday night about 40 kilometres south of Edmonton.
The pickup came to rest in one ditch, the bus in the other. There were
16 passengers on board the bus at the time. There were no reported
injuries. Road conditions were considered a factor in the crash.
The Edmonton region has been struck with its worst April snowstorm in
almost 20 years.
One of the hardest-hit areas in Alberta was near Wainwright, about 200
kilometres east of Edmonton, which has received about 36 centimetres of
snow, Environment Canada said Monday.
Lloydminster, which is about 250 kilometres east of Edmonton, received
30 centimetres.
Pam Larocque of the Husky Lloydminster Travel Centre said travellers
were stunned by the ferocity of the storm, with drifts building along
roads and wind gusting to 60 km/h.
"It's worse if you're driving in from the east," she said. "We've had a
lot of people decide to stay the night in [Lloydminster]."
Roads south of Edmonton were also in poor condition, while busy Highway
63 to Fort McMurray suffered partial whiteouts, ice and blowing snow.
In Edmonton, the city had about 60 vehicles plowing and sanding main
roads during the weekend, said city transportation spokesman Randy
Kilburn.
"It's a total aberration," he said. "I have basically lived here my
whole life and I can't remember it being this heavy this late."
The road clearing is costing the city about $100,000 a day, he said.
Environment Canada meteorologist David Wray said another 10 to 15
centimetres could fall on Edmonton before snow tapers off Tuesday
morning.
Add in the 10 centimetres that came down on the weekend and you're
looking at the city's biggest April snowfall since the one-day record
43.4 centimetres on April 23, 1990, he said.
The current weather in the Edmonton region is unusually cold, with an
Arctic ridge pushing temperatures down 15 to 20 degrees below normal,
Wray said. The temperature in Edmonton Monday afternoon was -10C, with a
wind chill of -20C.
People who didn't have to travel were taking winter's return in stride
Sunday, hauling out inner tubes and toboggans for possibly the season's
last slide.
Donald Gross, with Jude, 5, and George, 3, said he felt "pretty
demoralized" when he looked out the window in the morning.
"Honestly, I had to make a pretty big effort to drag myself out the
door. But the kids are having fun."
The Calgary region coped with 20 centimetres of snow and a wind chill
hovering around -18C over the weekend. City crews worked feverishly
through Saturday and Sunday to get roads cleared for Monday's commute.
Calgary was expected to see light snow Monday, tapering off by Tuesday
morning. Some parts of northwestern Saskatchewan were hard hit, with
snowfalls in the 15- to 25-centimetre range.
--
Warmest Regards
Bonzo
"Attributing global climate change to human CO2 production is akin to
trying to diagnose an automotive problem by ignoring the engine
(analogous to the Sun in the climate system) and the transmission (water
vapour) and instead focusing entirely, not on one nut on a rear wheel,
which would be analogous to total CO2, but on one thread on that nut,
which represents the human contribution." Dr. Timothy Ball, Chairman of
the Natural Resources Stewardship Project (NRSP.com), Former Professor
Of Climatology, University of Winnipeg
