Spring seems to be rolling on in, with the Weather Network forecasting high temperatures around 10 degrees and low temperatures not dipping below three degrees for the next two weeks.
A welcome relief after a fall and winter that saw more than 180 cm of snow and a grand total of 105 days of precipitation since September, according to Environment Canada. That is the most snow Campbell River has seen in the last 10 years, though, according to Environment Canada, there was 127 rainy days between September and February of 2011.
Schools were closed for three days in February this year due to the snowy conditions but many kids and adults seemed to enjoy the snow and could be found building snowmen and tobogganing.
Ray Lustig of Bee-Line Taxi reported being busier than usual during the snow storms, but not coming out ahead because of damages to the vehicles that were out on unplowed streets.
Chris Seeley at Boston Pizza also saw an increase in take-out and delivery orders during the snowy weather, but had to shut down deliveries for two days when the roads got too bad.
The real winner in the end was the ski hill. Sheila Rivers, marketing manager at Mt. Washington, said they got a total of 430 cm of snow, as of the beginning of March, at the mountain.
“The snow we have received has been amazing and dry,” she said in an email. “We were lucky to receive warmer temperatures pre-season to provide us with great ‘base building’ snow and then it cooled right down giving us beautiful dry snow most of the season.”
Last year they had more base snowfall, but Rivers said the quality was better this year.
Altogether, the resort saw a 20 per cent growth in visitors over the previous year.