Time for Winnipeggers to worry about floods amid high snowfall?

Winnipeg is experiencing one of its snowiest winters on record and Winter is far from over. The heavy snowfall is leaving Winnipeggers fewer places to pile the snow.

Over 156 centimetres of snow have fallen on Winnipeg so far this year, making it the third-highest snowfall year on record, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Natalie Hasell, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, says Winnipeg got similar amounts of snowfall in 2005-06 with around 131 centimetres, and in 1996-97 with about 143 centimetres – which ultimately led to Manitoba’s flood of a century. Hassel says people are already watching to see how the snowfall and snowmelt could influence flooding this spring.

“Flooding is a situation that can kind of be insidious; it can come from a great distance as well because we do have a lot of snow in the lower Red River basins, so on the other side of the border,” said Hasell.

“We’ve got a lot of snow that will have to melt at some point, and that water will come to us.”

Manitoba’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre advises that while there is a risk of major flooding along the Red River and its tributaries, water levels are expected to remain below community flood protection levels at all locations.

Scott Kahler, chief scientist of Weather Logics, says a big snowstorm in late March or early April could dramatically increase the risk of flooding. Creating similar conditions to 1997.

“If we’re looking at this year the conditions right now, they are defiantly unfavourable flood-wise as far as the amount of snow we got. But, if we don’t get a huge amount more, even though up to this point we are comparable to 97 we won’t be at the same level unless we get a big spring storm,” said Kahler.

But the snowbanks are already really high. Some are sitting at over six feet and it’s creating difficulty for a lot of drivers in the city that have to navigate them as they are getting ready to merge into traffic.

The City of Winnipeg’s manager of streets maintenance, says hundreds of city machines are working around the clock to free up roads and clear sidewalks right now. The city is asking for patience from citizens as crews continue working through the night.

The forecast for the next week is not predicting more snow, however, extreme cold warnings are in effect as temperatures stay dangerously low.