Classes are cancelled today in the Kootenay Lake school district, at all Selkirk College campuses, and at St. Joseph’s school due to the snow.
But the school district says its facilities should reopen tomorrow, with the except of Crawford Bay, J.V. Humphries in Kaslo, and Jewett in Meadow Creek. They’ll remain closed due to power outages and inaccesibility.
Some bus routes will need to be modified as well. The district encourages parents to call the transportation hotline and said it would update its Twitter feed with any transportation notices.
Most areas received more than 20 cm overnight and we’re expected to see another 10 to 20 cm today, bringing the total to 60 to 70 cm since it began on Friday. But it should ease off this evening and we might see a break in the weather tomorrow.
The Kootenay Pass is closed for avalanche control and snow removal. It won’t reopen before 8 tonight.
Highway 31 is closed from 5 km south of Meadow Creek through 10 km north of Meadow Creek due to avalanche control. It has reopened through Coffee Creek to single-lane traffic.
The City of Nelson and highways contractor YRB both have every available piece of equipment on the roads.
YRB general manager Dave Duncan says winds are causing snow drifts in excess of 40 cm, making some roads difficult to access.
Duncan has a request for motorists.
City buses are not running in Nelson, but they are on intercity connectors. Two buses got stuck in Rosemont.
Several streets in Nelson have been closed:Â Cedar from Carbonate to Vernon, Pine St. from View to Douglas, and Carbonate from Hendryx to Josephine, and Hart from Falls to Creek. The cemetery, dog walk, and lakeside promenade are also all closed.
City engineer Rob Nystrom says it’s probably been 20 years since we had a dump like this.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay’s Nelson office is closed today as well.
The Nelson and District Community Complex is closing at 3 p.m. today. All pre-registered program registrants and arena and pool rental groups have been informed of the closure. Regular hours will resume tomorrow.
It was a terrific day at Whitewater Ski Resort.
Marketing manager Rebeckah Hornung says the slopes were hopping today.
Whitewater received 31 centimeters overnight to add to 23 centimeters that fell in the previous two days.
