Yellowknife is expected to be so cold in the coming week that City Hall has cancelled all planned snow removal work, an unusual step.
In a city where kids – perhaps ill-advisedly – can be seen walking to school in light jackets at minus a gajillion, it takes a whole heap of cold to put municipal services off their game.
But in a Facebook post on Friday, the City of Yellowknife admitted temporary defeat.
“Due to the extremely cold weather next week, there will be no snow removal from January 8 to 12, 2024. Snow removal will resume the week of January 15, when the temperature is expected to be warmer,” the city stated.
Next week does look crazy cold.
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Even though Yellowknife spent a day or two under an extreme cold warning this week, next week promises night after night well below -35C and daytime highs only peeking above -30C, if that.
Pressed for details by grumpy residents, the city said next week’s forecast suggests we’ll go below a threshold at which work like snow removal cuts off.
“The City of Yellowknife must halt snow removal temporarily when temperatures reach -35C for an extended period of time,” the city elaborated in a comment beneath its own post.
“Staff experience increased amounts of equipment failures and repairs when these extreme temperatures are reached for an extended period.
“Due to the nature of the work, it must be postponed to maintain good working order of the limited heavy equipment available for snow removal activities.”
