Humboldt snow removal crews had to dig out from two storm systems that dumped nearly 60 cm of snow in the city over the past week or so. (City of Humboldt/Facebook)

By Cam Lee

Humboldt snow clearing

Snow clearing challenging in Humboldt after significant storms

Nov 27, 2024 | 2:16 PM

The City of Humboldt’s snow clearing plans continue to evolve as the city grows and changes.

Humboldt was hit by a major storm last week, followed by another significant snow over the weekend.

Director of Public Works and Utilities Peter Bergquist told northeastNOW the city received upwards of 40 cm of snow in the first storm, along with wind gusts up to 70 km/h at times.

He said the strong wind made the snow difficult to clear and left roads difficult to plow.

“We basically went from bare ground to winter in a matter of 25 hours,” Bergquist explained. “Our crews and contracted services had to work days and nights to catch up and get the roads passable for the majority of the public.”

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The city used the first snowfall to gather more information about what they would classify as an emergency storm, in terms of the amount of snow that would signify an emergency.

“What we would do differently during those emergencies that what we would normally in our snow clearing operations,” Bergquist said. ”Good discussions to have, good practices to put into place.”

He said it’s also important to gauge what the public expectation is during those events and gather feedback to see if the city’s approach to snow clearing could or should be altered.

“There are those frustrations out there and we can definitely sympathize with many of them.”

Ensuring there is emergency access during storm events is critical for the city, said Bergquist. That includes the ability for people to get to the hospital, and for ambulances and other emergency services to be able to get where they need to go.

Bergquist said crews were able to plow most of the city by Saturday evening of the first storm and the second system only brought about 15 cm of snow which was more tolerable.

“It wasn’t nearly as deep,” said Bergquist. “Cars weren’t having the same issues in the residential areas that they were from the first storm.”

The city has a snow clearing priority system, and Bergquist said as the city grows there will inevitably be changes.

“Feedback and expressions of concern or conveyance of information to council members all helps build what we want as a snow clearing program for our city.”

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK