Robert Menard's Brilliant New Idea!

[Jeffrey]

What's Menard's game plan for dealing with Canada's new emergency powers?

[Burnaby49]

He's being coy, currently withholding his masterstroke, and instead posting platitudes like this;

If a 7 year old child demonstrates that they are incapable of properly handling a butter knife would you then hand them a machete? No emergency powers for you Trudeau.

[Burnaby49]

In February I posted about the shitstorms of freezing rain I used to suffer through during my three years in Ottawa, a weather condition not inflicted on me here in Vancouver;

Burnaby49
I'd neglected to note freezing rain. The most hellish Ottawa weather nightmare of them all. I had no idea it existed when I moved from Vancouver but I found out about it fast the first winter. I was once stuck downtown overnight at the end of a workday because there was no way to get back to Nepean with the entire city a massive sheet of ice.

MNR called me out on my statement;

Okay, NOW you have gone Too Far. I happily accept almost all criticism of the frozen Arctic hellscape that is my chosen city in winter, because it's true, but ... I'm not standing for that.

I spent the first 14 years of my life in Coquitlam. The Lower Mainland gets a LOT of freezing rain. That was where I first learned how to crack hairsicles out of a braid. I broke my arm trying to do a monkey-bars trick in grade 4 because I hadn't noticed that the bars were iced up and went flying.

Admittedly you don't typically get it on top of snowpack, and melt-and-freeze is its own horrible thing, but still. Not falling for that one.

My indignant response was;

Burnaby49 » Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:42 pm
Maybe you got freezing rain way out in the hinterlands of Coquitlam, part of the the great unknown wilderness east of Burnaby. But here in tropical Vancouver, where I've spent most of my 72 years, I can't recall ever getting freezing rain. Certainly not a rain that turned my steps and street into a sheet of ice.

Well I'm apparently about to be forced to eat that statement. Winter is going to toss freezing rain into the already apocalyptic December that's been inflicted on us. This will be the third major snowstorm in Greater Vancouver in less than a week.

Vancouver Island, Howe Sound, Whistler, Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley could get snow accumulations of 20 to 30 cm over a 10- to 12-hour period, said Transportation Minister Rob Fleming.

Then as temperatures rise, the snow is forecast to transform into freezing rain and ice pellets starting Friday and into Saturday, depending on the location, before turning into heavy rain, as much as 80 mm in some parts of the region.

“We are watching this freezing rain event very closely as it has the potential to have a very significant impact on road conditions across the south coast of B.C. including Vancouver Island,” said Fleming.

“The freezing rain is such a concern in fact that my ministry is strongly advising against any form of travel tonight through Saturday.”

The freezing rain is a concern primarily for the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island. In the Valley, it could last up to 36 hours and cause slippery and dangerous road conditions, said Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma.

She said people in these areas should only travel if necessary. “I know people have plans to travel to their friends and families, but these are very dangerous conditions and we want to make sure everyone is safe.”

Freezing rain occurs when snow encounters a layer of warm air causing it to melt and become rain which then refreezes as it makes contact with a frozen surface.

“This is a very hazardous phenomenon,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon. “Anytime we get several hours of that, it can have great impact.”

The freezing rain is expected to start on Vancouver Island late Friday morning into the afternoon. It’ll hit Metro Vancouver starting midday Friday to late afternoon before moving to the Fraser Valley, where it is expected to linger through Friday night into Saturday, possibly longer.

Freezing rain could coat highways in ice, and can be very difficult for road maintenance crews to manage, said Fleming.

The transition from snow to freezing rain to temperate West Coast rain will also be tricky as contractors will have to monitor weather conditions and switch from plowing snow and laying down salt to deploying vehicles with ice-blades to cut through icy accumulations.

He warned the ministry could close highways on short notice if it finds the roads are too hazardous for travel.

“I cannot understate the significance of the incoming weather front,” he said. “Rarely do we see such heavy snow followed by freezing rain and heavy rainfall.”

Officials urged drivers who have to be on the road to be prepared for winter travel, including having winter tires, be fully fuelled or charged, and have appropriate clothing and extra food and medications in case they get stuck or delayed. Drivers are also asked to drive according to road conditions, and to refrain from passing maintenance equipment.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-new ... day-friday

The only thing left out is earthquakes. Maybe we'll finally get the long-expected big one hitting us during the transition between heavy snow and freezing rain.

[The Observer]

The only thing left out is earthquakes.

Volcanos. You forgot about volcanos.

[Burnaby49]

I think we're relatively safe from at least that eventuality here in Vancouver although, although, . . . .

Damn it, you have a point. While our own Rockies are comfortingly docile we face the risk of damage from potential massive eruptions emanating from our southern neighbor (no, I'm not referring to Donald Trump). Mount St. Helens, in a thoughtful bit of timing, exploded on my birthday over 40 years ago, giving me a present of a yard and house covered in volcanic ash. Apparently Mount Baker, so close that it's visible from Vancouver on clear days, could also blow any time.

Mount Baker is a 10,781 ft (3,286 m) active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker

Damn you Washington state, why do you hate us?

[Rupert68]

BC Snowmageddon has traveled to Ontario. I now have 6 foot snowdrifts in my driveway, the wind took down a large tree in the backyard (missing the house thankfully), the wind is absolutely howling out there, it's snowing very hard and Tim Hortons is closed.

Bobby, we are in need of your brilliance and stellar leadership.

[Burnaby49]

Tim Hortons is closed? Is there no end to this nightmare?

Hopefully there is, at least here. Overnight, just in time for Xmas, the temperature soared from -8C to +5C. Up until this morning we were debating whether to cancel Xmas dinner but with that temperature relief I took the 10 pound ham butt out of the freezer. As for you Ontarians, you have my sympathies. I spent three winters there and while it was almost a half century ago the memories still linger.

[The Observer]

While our own Rockies are comfortingly docile...

Not worried about Mount Garibaldi? Looks to be less than 90 km from the palatial palaces of Burnaby and seismically active since 1985.

[Burnaby49]

Forgot about that. Still, Baker seems more likely although Garibaldi, being so close, would probably be deadlier. The northern fringe of the greater Vancouver sprawl starts just south of Garibaldi.

As far as palatial palaces go I wish I was wealthy enough to own more than one property in Vancouver. We couldn't even afford our current house (really just a teardown to be replaced by a real palatial palace) if we had to buy it now but we bought it almost a half-century ago when real estate prices were sane.