Surprise Snow Storm Paralyzes Transit In Southern British Columbia

Surrey, British Columbia is a suburb city of Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Located just north of the Canada U.S.A border the area generally has mild winters. This year of 2019 has pretty much followed suit. At times dipping below freezing, but for short stints, the weather has been quite mild compared to many provinces and states on the east coast of North America. As January passed with no snow at all it appeared that this winter was going to be a no-snow winter for Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. One week ago approximately 40 miles east of Vancouver, Abbotsford City was hit with a snowfall causing some major traffic issues. That behind them, came on the weekend of February 9th. Warnings came from the weather network for the residents of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland as well as Vancouver Island to brace for a snowfall of 1 to 3 inches. Well, that isn’t too bad everyone thought! Come Sunday February 10th the day started off nice. Some blue sky along with a minor overcast sky. Who would think with blue skies, that snow would even happen? Well, we should never second guess the weatherman supposedly. As the clock ticked and struck 2pm, the snow began to fall…heavily. Within 1 hour there was nearly 2 inches of the white stuff on the ground and had begun causing issues with traffic. After attending a Vancouver Giants hockey game and returning home to what now was over 6 inches of snow. Loving the brightness the snow brings, Brent suited up in his parka and snow boots and headed out to get some exercise. Living close to one of the main highways through Surrey, he expected to see some traffic snarls caused by the snow fall. Not being disappointed this was definitely one issue that a small snow plow and one very hard working caring commuter could not solve. The bus driver and one single local commuter tried for over half an hour to free the bus. Those buses just aren’t that easy to manhandle on a hill in snowy conditions. Local transit commuters would surely be wondering where their ride is…