We have 35CM of snow at our house. It's been snowing off and on today so it may be more. It looks like we won't get much more snow until Friday. The low tonight will be -11C. I'm hibernating inside and glad we have a warm house and a snow blower!
The Weather Network is forecasting rain to start on December 24. We have so much snow, I doubt the rain will take it away by Christmas Day. A white Christmas after all.
I feel very sorry for people trying to fly out of our airport. Here is a picture from yesterday:
That plane would need a lot of deicing fluid! During a labour dispute in the 80's, I worked as a ticket agent at YVR through out Christmas. I feel very sorry for those working now.
I saw a girl on the evening news at YVR. She boarded in Los Angeles with a change of planes at YVR enroute to Toronto. She was on a WestJet flight that spent 12 hours on the tarmac and ended up back at the gate. Her mom called the US Consulate to complain about her 12 hour wait on the tarmac. Our rules in Canada are different than the US and perhaps she didn't understand, the gates wouldn't work and aircraft couldn't navigate the airport.
From the Canadian Transportation Agency webdsite:
4. Allowing passengers to disembark
With some exceptions, once an aircraft is delayed on the tarmac at an airport in Canada for three hours, the airline must provide passengers an opportunity to disembark. Airlines' obligations during this stage of the delay, and the exceptions, are outlined below.
Exceptions
Airlines are not required to let passengers disembark at the three hour mark if takeoff is imminent and they can meet all the kinds of assistance listed in Section III until take-off.
Airlines are also not required to provide passengers the opportunity to disembark if they are prevented by reasons beyond their control (e.g., safety, security, air traffic control, or customs reasons). This would apply, for instance, if there is no safe means of disembarking available, such as airport gates or air stairs for disembarkation away from the air terminal. However, airlines must seek out all disembarking methods, even if this means procuring (e.g., renting) gates outside their normal allocation at that airport, or securing assistance from other ground handling agents if they are at an airport where they do not have regular contracted staff in place.
Airlines should make reasonable efforts, including working with other parties at the airport, to return to the gate and disembark promptly. Prior to the three-hour mark, if it is clear that take-off will not occur within the timeline noted above, airlines are encouraged to examine options to disembark passengers earlier than this time limit.
