Graders were hard at work in Yellowknife on Tuesday morning, patching up road surfaces practically washed away by unprecedented rain.
Environment Canada data suggests the city received an extraordinary 32.6 mm of rain on Monday, which – if accurate – would be more than four times the previous record for any June 11 in Yellowknife (7 mm in 1998).
Ordinarily, Yellowknife only receives around 29 mm of rain in the entire month of June. Even a conservative estimate, halving Environment Canada’s Monday figure, would be among the wettest June days on record for the city.
On Monday, the City of Yellowknife announced it would undertake emergency work on Franklin Avenue between Old Airport Road and Forrest Drive to repair potholes exacerbated by relentless rain.
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The road is already a construction zone, and traffic in the city was particularly bad on Monday as wet conditions and potholes combined with existing Franklin Avenue road closures.
Early on Tuesday, workers were grading the intersection between Franklin Avenue, Old Airport Road, and Kam Lake Road outside the city’s Multiplex. On Monday, residents told Cabin Radio the surface of the intersection was being washed away, exposing more potholes.
There is no sign of an immediate break in the rain, either. Tuesday began in similarly wet fashion and the forecast calls for more showers until Friday.
On Tuesday, a City spokesperson said City Hall in Yellowknife had suffered water damage as a result of Monday’s rain.
“As a number of staff are not located at their usual desk or phone number, please call the main line at 920-5600 to have your inquiry appropriately redirected,” said the City in a news release. Customer service desks remain open as usual at City Hall, the fieldhouse and the pool.
