Snow falls across Kamloops, Jan 17 (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

SNOW DAY

Some YKA passengers spending an extra night in Kamloops as winter weather arrives

Jan 17, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Over the past day, the city of Kamloops has received 17 centimeters of snow — nearly equaling the historic average for the entire month of January.

Despite the snow, services at Kamloops Airport are running as they should. The problem, however, lies with YKA’s main connection in Vancouver.

“Our teams are quite used to it, so the airport has stayed fully operational through this event. And it’s expected to clear up toward the end of the day so we aren’t expecting any operational issues related to the weather here,” said Kamloops Airport Manager Ed Ratuski.

Ratuski noted that earlier Wednesday morning (Jan. 17), YVR was at a ground stop, halting all inbound planes to Vancouver. He was, however, confident in passengers being able to get out of Kamloops throughout the afternoon.

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“There is still Air Canada later on in the day. Their flights are scheduled to resume as things clear up on the coast and here as well… Passengers will need to keep in touch with the airlines,” added Ratuski.

Throughout the terminal, many were left stranded, including a family from New Zealand and a couple from Ohio who were both at Sun Peaks.

“We are going to try again tomorrow. We are probably going to go back up there and [my husband will] hit the ski hill and I’ll just wait,” said Carol from Cleveland.

“Our flight has been cancelled and our next flight is on Saturday so we aren’t going to be able to do that, so we are looking if we can get a shuttle out of town one way or another. But all the roads are closed so it looks like we are going to be enjoying Kamloops hospitality for a night,” joked Brad for New Zealand.

With snow still falling, the clock hasn’t officially been started for City of Kamloops Civic Operations and its snow clearing procedure. Streets and Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow noted that means residential streets could be left waiting.

“At this point, the focus is definitely on arterials and collectors and nothing beyond that. As it’s related to residential and local roads, we will not be in those [Wednesday] and likely not a good chunk of [Thursday], depending on when the snow eventually stops,” Farrow told CFJC Today.

In addition to the city crews, Farrow confirmed that some contracted help is also being brought in to assist with getting the major routes clear as soon as possible. With temperatures expected to climb, the city can expand its arsenal in the days ahead.

“We will see more and more ice as we get closer to that,” said Farrow. “But at the same time, that is when some of our salts will be more effective in breaking it down. But when it gets closer to 0 C, we will see more melt and more freezing and back and forth. No matter what the conditions are, they are a challenge.”

Those wondering if their street will be cleared are advised to check the city’s website, with red- and blue-labeled streets being the top priority.