PICKLE LAKE, Ont. - Snowplows travelling up and down the street and green trees covered in white isn’t something you want to wake up to on a June morning, but that’s just what greeted several communities in Northwestern Ontario.
Parts of Northwestern Ontario received a rare dumping of June snow, with Pickle Lake seeing as much as 10 centimetres with snow still falling Thursday morning.
“It’s not really a great feeling when everyone was wearing shorts a week ago and it was beautiful 20 degree weather and fishing and then looking outside and wondering if we should fire up the skidoo or take the car to work,” said Jamie Hussey, clerk treasurer with the municipality of Pickle Lake.
Several trees are down in certain areas due to the heavy wet snow and the municipality is experiencing a power outage town wide due to some trees that are suspected to have fallen on power lines.
Hussey said Hydro One crews have been dispatched from Dryden to get the power back on.
It is not entirely outside the realm of possibility for northern parts of the region to receive snow in June, but Hussey said the amount on the ground took even long-time residents by surprise.
“It is quite unusual to get snow in June,” Hussey said. “It has definitely happened before. I’ve heard from a lot of people who lived here for a very long time that this is probably the most they have seen in June for a long time.”
“It’s still falling from the sky right now. It looks like a late September day in Pickle Lake minus the fact that the trees are green and not yellow.”
Motorists are advised to use extra caution on area roadways. Pickle Lake had to dispatch its snowplows to clear streets and Hussey said drivers are taking their time.
“So far we haven’t heard of any collisions in town or Highway 599,” she said. “Everyone is taking their time and being cautious and we did have to ask our snowplows to go back out this morning. Everything is carrying on as normal despite the fact that we have no power.”
Snow is expected to turn to rain later this afternoon in Pickle Lake and temperatures will rise to 10 degrees by Friday afternoon.
