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Remembering winters hard and not so hard

This week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library shares the highs and lows of winters throughout the history of the Sault

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

As we officially approach the winter season in Northern Ontario, there is one thing that we can be assured of – we will have snow!

The question however may be how frequently and how much of the white stuff we can expect. Meteorologists will try to predict what type of winter we may look forward to, but Mother Nature usually has the last word.

Another certainty is that everyone will have a memory or a story to tell about the weather. Looking back at past years, we have had some memorable winters.

Weather-related records for this area began to be kept going back to about 1888. Some of the records measured the amount of snow on the ground at one time while other records measured the total snowfall for the entire season or perhaps the record kept was for the most amount of snowfall falling in one day.

The first record for the most snow on the ground was recorded in the winter of 1894 with a depth of 36.2 inches but eventually, this record was finally broken on March 16, 1959, when the city received 10.1 inches of snowfall during one storm, bringing the total snow on the ground to 39 inches.

This record was broken again in March 1972 when the snow depth was 41 inches.

In March 1940, Arthur A. Piippo, from the Sault Michigan weather bureau provided the Sault Kiwanis Club with a summary of the “best and the worst” winters experienced in Sault Ste. Marie.

By 1940, the warmest winter in the two Saults was the winter of 1931-32. There was no recorded snowfall until January and the average mean temperature was 25 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees higher than normal).

The most severe winter was that of 1916-17 which was cold and stormy with a lot of wind. Piippo recounted that by 1940 snowfall had been steadily increasing since 1900.

When winter finally departs each year, we check to see what the total snowfall for the season was. There have certainly been some extremes.

During the winter of 1898-99, the total snowfall was only 32.1 inches. Compare that total to the winter of 1933-34 when the total was 141.3 inches.

The winter of 1971-72 shattered this record when the city received an additional six inches of snow on April 13, 1972, bringing the season total to 168 inches. Snowbanks were high and broken shovels and sore backs were common.

As reported in a Sault Star article from Dec. 19, 1980, many Saultites probably weren’t singing, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” that year, since there was no doubt about this outcome.

The city had already received a total of 113 cm (or 44 inches) of snow, and snow squalls were once again in the forecast bringing more snow. It was hard to believe that winter had only just started. City crews and private snow removal contractors were already exhausted after working long days trying to maintain safe driving conditions.

With less than a week until Christmas, shoppers were struggling to get out and finish their Christmas shopping.

However, one of the most memorable storms to ever hit Sault Ste. Marie occurred over three days between Dec. 9 and 11, 1995 but it didn’t stop, and the snow continued for another two days.

For residents, it became the storm that just never stopped. The city received 170.5 cm (or 67 inches) of snow within about five days, with 90 cm of snow falling in just one day.

With only brief opportunities for residents to clear their driveways before the snow would start again, people rapidly became ‘snow weary’. The entire city was shut down for about four days in a row.

Businesses and schools were closed, streets were impassable and city crews tried to keep roads open for emergency vehicles, but the snow just kept falling.

Fortunately, the storm began late on a Friday night and by Saturday morning it was clear that the city was at a standstill. Since it was the weekend, schools were closed, and most people were already at home.

One of the most significant casualties of the storm was the collapse of a portion of the Station Mall roof near the former fountain court. The collapse occurred about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, 1995, before the stores opened but there were people in the food court and exercise groups were usually walking in the mall.

Fortunately, no one was in the immediate area at the time of the collapse. It was determined later that the collapse was the result of faulty welding connections of the beams between the second and third phases of the mall.

This historic winter snowstorm led the city to make national headlines and it became known as the Snow Capital of Canada for that year. Total snowfall for the winter of 1995-96 broke all the previous records with a total of 511 cm or 201 inches.

The silver lining to this epic snowfall meant that ski hills and winter tourism became the destination for people from all over the country.

The winter of 2014-15 broke another snowfall record with 578 cm (or 227.5 inches) being recorded for the season. Retailers who sold snow shovels and snow removal equipment were probably very happy that winter.

Despite all the accounts of record-breaking snowfall, that is not always the story. The city has also experienced a handful of green Christmases, although they are definitely in the minority.

A Sault Star article from Dec. 23, 1972, lists that the first recorded green Christmas occurred in 1888, followed by 1895, 1911, 1918, 1931, 1941 and 1952 and then it was a 20-year gap until the next one in 1972.

In 1931, the clear weather continued through the week between Christmas and New Year’s and residents decided to embrace the conditions by planning a summer sports day for New Year’s Day.

Sports that were planned included a baseball tournament, lawn bowling and tennis, but unfortunately, two inches of snow arrived on New Year’s Eve and the planned summer sports day could not go ahead after all.

It was many years until the city experienced another green Christmas in 1994. Christmas Day 1994 was a balmy 7 degrees Celsius and sent many people out to the barbecue to cook their turkey dinners that year!

While snow enthusiasts look forward to winter and lots of snowfall so that they can skate, ski, snowshoe, toboggan, and snowmobile, those who must shovel it, may not be quite so enthralled when a new storm is in the forecast.

Love it or hate it, snow will always be a part of our lives in Sault Ste. Marie so either we must get out and find a way to enjoy it or find a good place to hibernate until it finally leaves in the spring. So . . . what’s your plan for this winter?

Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provides SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.

Find out more of what the Public Library has to offer at www.ssmpl.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here


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