By Glenn Hicks

Sudden warm-up brings motoring and playing challenges

Dec 13, 2018 | 4:00 PM

What happened to winter?

For most of us the sudden warm-up in temperatures in the coming days will come as a welcome respite to the early winter, but it will pose a challenge for crews working on the city’s roads and for the upkeep of community ice rinks.

The daytime high could hit 4 C Saturday and night time lows are also expected to be well above the norm for this time of year.

“We are continuing with our ploughing and grading,” the city of Prince Albert’s director of operations, Mohammad Kraishan, told paNOW. “That will prevent that snow from getting soft and causing issues where motorists could get stuck.”

The city does not have a scheduled snow crew for the weekend, but Kraishan said they do have a plan in place for sanding during the possible freeze-thaw periods when the temperature goes up and down through the zero degree mark.

Missing pet

'She means the world to our family': Woman seeks help in finding missing pet parrot

13h ago

BE CAREFUL ON THE ROADS

Semi flips outside P.A.; one of dozens of incidents on Sask. roads due to winter weather

13h ago

NO GO FOR BUSES

School bus routes outside P.A. canceled due to spring snowstorm

18h ago

“We do have a duty foreman who’ll go out and check the roadways, and based on the need he can call and get crews in,” he said.

While the freeze-thaw potential is a concern for all motorists, it’s also a headache for the four community ice rinks. Those surfaces have only just been readied for winter thanks largely to the efforts of volunteers who are sometimes out in the wee hours to get things prepared, according to director of P.A. Minor Hockey, James Mays.

He explained those buildings tend to warm up when the weather shifts like this.

“Even if it’s only plus-two or plus- three out, and it’s sunny, that warms those buildings,” he said. “Right now when the ice isn’t built up to the thickness they need yet, then it’s tough to get it to freeze.”

Mays said there is always a day or two in winter when a sudden rise in temperature can cause problems and it’s possible some ice time may have to be cancelled. He recommends parents keep in touch with their coaches.

“The coaches may let the smaller kids out – novice, atom and peewee – because they’re not chewing up the ice so much, and it might just mean the bantam or midgets maybe miss their practice.”

Mays was eager to stress the minor hockey kids get up to 17 weeks of action thanks to the natural-ice rinks at East Hill, East End, West Hill, and Crescent Heights, and the city was in an enviable position to have that much ice available.

“I hope folks realize how lucky we are to have those rinks and that availability to have practices in there. It gives our kids a lot more ice time at very minimal cost,” he said.

Now, if we could only get winter back.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow