Wild weather, including snow and lightning, persists in April
Up to eight centimeters of snow blanketed homes in Campbell River on Tuesday -- part of some wild weather, more reminiscent of winter than spring.
The winter wallop forced road crews with Mainroad North Island Contracting to clear snow from some mid-island highways -- when they usually would be gearing up for the next season.
Chris Cowley is the general manger of the company, and he says his team is starting to expect the unexpected this time of year when it comes to weather. Still, the snow prevented them from shifting to spring-related work.
“It delays everything. We're having to retool our trucks and make sure they’re winter ready,” said Cowley Tuesday.
On Mt. Washington, fresh powder added to a base that's higher than it's been most anytime this year, even though the downhill ski season ended last week.
Elsewhere, thunder and lightning pierced the night sky in Nanaimo Monday, before hail fell from it.
“It's just been one of those months where everything's been in flux, and really unstable right now,” said CTV’s weather specialist, Warren Dean, Tuesday. “And were just not quite in that smooth zone yet.”
Even on the south island, where buds are bursting from branches and flowers are blooming, there’s still plenty of toques on heads.
In fact, Armel Castellan with Environment and Climate Change Canada confirms that for much of Vancouver Island, this April ranks in the top five coldest on record. However, those unseasonably cold temperatures will be changing in about a week.
“May’s defintiely the month we'll get what we're looking for, get what were wanting, as we’ve been stuck in this little bit of a funk,” said Dean Tuesday, predicting warmer temperatures come next month.
That funk is not that unusual for this time of year, however, say Castellan.
This is, in a sense, typical spring weather, where we can have all four seasons all at once.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.