The Blizzard of 96 Victoria B.C. by Doug Clement (originally broadcasted on Victoria Shaw Cable)
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- Опубликовано: 30 май 2010
- In December of 1996 the city of Victoria B.C. was hit by a snowstorm that would be remembered for years to come. This is a time line of those three days starting on Dec. 26 and ending on Dec.29 when over 4 feet of snow fell on the city. I shot this video originally while working with Victoria Shaw cable and recently re-edited it
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I remember it well, my father had just died and I felt like I had the weight of the world upon my shoulders. Until nature showed me its power and beauty as I looked up into the night sky. How small I felt, how lucky I knew I was just to be here. Thank You Blizzard of 96 for defusing my personal storm.
Ah, memories! I was 14, and we were completely snowbound in Metchosin for 7 straght days. My parents had to hike the 5km to the tiny Metchosin Store, which was miraculously open, just to get milk and eggs - which my father promptly slipped and broke all 12 of about 5 steps from home. I will never forget that year! Fingers crossed for another!
I lived in this lovely city for twelve years. I stupidly agreed to be substitute caretaker of my apartment building while the full-time caretakers were on a ski trip during this ‘blizzard’. One of my duties was to shovel the parking lot in the rare case of snow. Oops. My roomie and I spent the entire weekend shovelling. Other tenants took pity on us and joined in. Countless cars driving by got stuck and we helped to shovel them out so they could continue on their way. We were the laughingstock of the rest of Canada, and I never had so much fun in my life.
He slipped for real? Thats crazy
I was 7 when this happened and remember how much joy I got playing in that snow. My brother jumping from our roof into the snow and us sledding down our street. I remember trucks pulling people on skies behind it and my dad spending most of the day trying to unbury his truck and make paths for people to walk on. We had to literally dig our way out of our home. I miss the snow!
cfax radio really came through and helped a lot of people who really needed it ..got to know my neighbours well ..it was a great time thanks for this
I end up coming back to watch this every year 😆 nothing so cozy, as to watch this in a warm house when it's cold outside. Born and raised in Vic. Seeing the blue bridge takes me back instantly, to a time I'll never know again in this life.
A few days before this storm hit our daughter brought her new husband over for a visit. He was from hawaii and had never experienced real snow in his life. We had assured him that it would likely not snow in Victoria. After all IT NEVER, EVER SNOWS IN VICTORIA EXCEPT ONCE IN A WHILE EVERY YEAR:) He rented a car and the day or two after the storm it was buried up to its windows. We had a great time. this was just truly great video. Dennis
When I woke up and saw the snow half way up my window.. it was the most amazing thing as a 10 year old... Never getting snow to the mother load.... Was a week I'll never forget.
I was visiting from New York City and got stranded in Victoria due to this storm. I'll never forget it, the most snow i've ever seen at one time. The national guard had tanks at the supermarket nearby Michigan St. and they gave us bottled water and toilet paper (even though our pipes were frozen and the toilet didn't flush!) You couldn't see a single parked car on the block we were on, the were completely buried. The little Vietnamese market on the corner stayed open through the whole ordeal!
Very pretty video but the story behind the scenes is not captured.
As a paramedic on those days it was a nightmare. Ambulances were ineffective. We turned to the military and used their 6x6 vehicles. Myself included turned our personal 4x4 trucks into ambulances by chaining up all four tires. Many calls for help were severely delayed or we were just unable to get them out of their snowed in homes. We used snowmobiles from the forestry services as a last ditch effort to reach people. Most of us paramedics didn’t see our homes for 4 days. No change of clothes limited nutrition. I personally delivered a baby in the front seat of my truck half way to the hospital. All the while worried about my family snowed in and my wife at full term expecting our second child.
So as pretty as it is I’ll pass on a repeat ty.
At 2:00 - A record store! Thanks for the memories, dang I miss the nineties.
There still are record stores in Victoria (Ditch Records) ...but I know what you mean. A+B sound...right? It dosen't seem like Boxing Day in Victoria without the lineup going in to A+B Sound. I remember by my first CD player there and CDs.
Lawdy that was a wake up call. I was working with the Auditor General on the Earthquake Preparedness Study at the time. This hit and everything had to readjust. The Island can't handle a snowfall much less an earthquake. Good came out of this. It will always be the worst blizzard I have been through - despite living in Fort Mac, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax.
I cannot explain how much I like watching this footage. I can see it was uploaded in 2013, seventeen years after the blizzard. I'm here in 2023 twenty seven years later watching it.
Brilliant video ! If you had been down South Fairfield way, where we lived, you would have seen abandoned cars in the middle of the road, Richardson, Fairfield Rd, Richmond Ave...All power gone. Only a lonely broadcaster on CFAX co-ordinating important messages across the city to help elderly in distress over delivery of medications etc, the landlines came in handy.... That was a storm to remember, thanks Doug
Glad to see this. Made me nostalgic to what Victoria was. If it was still like this we wouldn't have moved away.
A lack of blizzards made you move away? From here? Huh?
Hi... I worked at the Community Channel in Victoria 1976 - 82. I really have to say good work. You put in one heck of a lot of effort, especially given it's likely a Umatic PortaPak. Cannot have been easy getting all over the place with that kind of gear in the snow!
GREAT video! I was living behind the parliament buildings on Superior St when the snow started to fall. I remember waking up thinking it was still dark to realize the drifts had covered my front windows. What an awesome experience!
wow, very cool! I live in Victoria and at that time I actually had to go to the hospital and I just remember being in the back of the ambulance on the highway on the way to Vic General. It was amazing as it had been ploughed and the snow was so high I felt like I was a mouse in a maze!! It was so incredible that I will never forget it!
We are getting more larger snow falls on the island now. Spring thaw is quite treacherous. Thanks for posting this.
Ahh. Fond childhood memories of my brother and I I would have been just about to turn 7. Who else jumped off your balcony into all that snow? Such fun.
What a terrific video! Great combination of visual and audio. Captured the stunning beauty of a Winter storm against the backdrop of our lovely city. Well done; and thank you.
one of the best memorys of my child hood.
I had a car that was covered up to its roof during this storm. A once in a lifetime event for me in Victoria
Man, I was only 3 years old when this happened, and the ONE memory that just sticks in my brain to this day is me sitting in our old white sedan while Mom is digging it out of the snow, LOL
Thank you, I left Vic in 1995 and I saw newspaper clippings as it happened but never got to see it like this.
Thanks for sending this along...I remember that December very well and have many photos to glance back in time whenever I feel like complaining about the weather...
Thanks so much for sharing! It came up on my recommended feed today... and I surely enjoyed it. :) Victoria 13 years ago... wow!
I remember this storm!! We were snowed in for days. We had a huge driveway and it took a couple days just to shovel ourselves to the street. My sister and I would jump off our roof into the snow drifts they were so high!
It started to first snow Christmas eve that year, light flurries. I remember because my family was on our way to church and it was dark out. I was eight at the time. It was a fun year.
Remember this so well.. it was amazing. We were snowed in for a while and had to shovel the snow off our roof in case it collapsed! Islandnet still worked though )))
I also have some vivid memories of that snowstorm. I was living in Ladysmith, a small town about 60 miles north of Victoria, at the time. We ended up with about four feet of snow, though, thankfully, we didn't have any wind to speak of during the storm. If we had, the dry snow would have drifted to the rooftops! Even so, it was incredible. Mostly, I remember my dad's sardonic comment re. global warming, made at the height of the storm, while clearing the driveway.
What a fun few days that was! I remember I was so happy because my older cousin was spending a few nights and ended up getting stuck and having to stay a few more.
well done,thanks for sharing and filming this.i was in New York at the time but i have photos my daughter took,amazing for Victoria or anyplace really.
Great video! Victoria got DOUBLE the snow on the flat of anywhere else on the BC coast that December. The rest of Canada never really knew that because the national weather forecasts stop at Vancouver.....really annoying. Also, note my reply to devilmaydme bellow....
This was nice to watch. It really captured the mood.
Beautiful video. Thank you.❤️❤️
Interesting to see again. Also seeing all the stores that hare no longer. A&B Sound M&S and more. We were happy to have a wood stove and did not leave the house for 4 days. Remember how greenhouses collapsed? Was this the time the Pearkes Rec Centre had their roof collapse?
Yes, this was the storm that collapsed a section of the roof over one of the rinks at Pearkes. Luckily, I don't believe anyone was injured. If I remember correctly, it happened overnight when no one was there.
I remember this!!! I was 7 years old and got stuck in my backyard from just charging into the snow! haha. We had a good 5 1/2 feet there, and i lost my boot until the snow melted a bit :P
Claudeeclau i was also 7 and also got stuck in the snow because it was so high! Neighbors were jumping into it from their roof ha
I remember the winter of 1995-96. It was so cold. Thanks for sharing this. Cheers!
Last year in victoria had about 30 cm on the ground. I remember schools being closed for three days and my family went sledding the whole day. Although it was very difficult to walk in shin deep snow all the way there and back
Beautiful job, thanks for posting.
We moved here in 1997 ( Nov) and saw the damage to the trees at Cathedral Grove what a wonderful job they did love some snow at this time of the year
Stuck in Chilliwack for 3 1/2 days due to hwy. closures. Was freaking out on hearing there was 5 - 6 feet of snow (an exaggeration but not quite) falling in Victoria. What condition was my house & back patio in??? My poor house sitter {may she rest in peace :( } had to literally climb over my parked car to get into my place to feed my cats. I was away for Christmas in Kamloops.
I am born and raised in Victoria and I am absolutely so glad that I was not born during that snowstorm but of course like it’s 2020 and we just got about a foot of snow recently so like. And also that the fact is that it’s definitely shows that Victoria hasn’t changed in the many years since the snowstorm in 96 almost at all
yes i do remember this. Was wonderful
I had to put the antena down on my Chev S10 truck because it got to the point that we were tripping on it. :)
Just barely missed it while relocating to Victoria from Ottawa. For the first 30 years, I have endured enough snow to last me a "fucking lifetime"!!!!!! I will take the rain ANY DAY.
Yah??? Well I moved from Ottawa TO Victoria in October 1996. After enduring cold and snowy Ontario winters for many years I told my wife (married just a couple of years at that time) that she would like it in Victoria because it rarely snows and if it does snow, it is all gone in a day or two. You can imagine how this snowstorm went over with her! I was lucky to stay married. What this video does not mention is that this snowstorm was preceded by 2 "rainstorms of the century" and one "windstorm of the century" in the month or two before the snow storm. Wife was thinking I was an absolute nutcase for saying that Victoria had nice weather!
It was beautiful looking from the inside out. Just like a painting. But a loit of shovelling!!
Ah yes, the blizzard of blizzards. I had a unique view of it all you could say spending three long days in a rig tow truck. The emergency vehicles were the priority. I recall one of the dumbest recoveries where there were two reservists who had the notion that their 6x6 deuce could go anywhere. The reserves were making the rounds gathering up the elderly to transport them all to the jubilee hospital, while the loaders and backhoes were piling the snow wherever they could. This particular seen at Vancouver & Caledonia. A loader had piled snow maybe 10 ft. or more which cut off the access from Vancouver to Caledonia. But rather than reversing the truck these two reservists took a run at the pile figuring they could plow right over it. So I get there to find this troop transport truck high centered and teetering ready to roll over. The driver comes running up saying hurry please before the truck rolls. So I get out to take a closer look to find over 15 people in the back of this truck half frozen. Of coarse now we had to unload the patients but had no where to put them. We had to dig out Caledonia st. all the way from the light at Quadra, and bring in a fleet of ambulances to transport everyone to the Royal Jubilee. And then it still took and hour to get that dam truck off the mound of snow. Yes it was crazy during that time. But can you imagine being in the back for that ride? And ya know, these two tried this same maneuver about four hours later. At least they were empty this time. I remember the cop so pissed at the driver that he gave him the choice of his ticket or or a formal complaint to his CO. Every hour was a new story like this, but I shard this one because of how over the top it was.
J Jones wow what a gong show.
Between reservists of something and 6x6 deuces, this story seems to be written in some sort of code...
All I can think to say is "Bad, Bad Boys" Thanks for saving them ☃️
I had to go and work at the Royal Jubilee Hospital during that snow fall, no one else could really make it in
We were just getting off the ferry after driving home from Alberta for Christmas. The Pat Bay Highway looked like a farmer's field track, almost impassable except for the four wheel drive truck we were in.
Love the music, perfect match
It’s pretty crazy how we broke records for very snowy places like Montreal and Ottawa. I guess all we need is some cold air and our rainy climate will do the rest
Images from this will be in archives for years to come. There is no better footage of the blizzard of '96 than right here.
I remember this storm! I miss being a kid
A beautiful vidio, I sure do miss Victoria..
Of all the houses to show you show the house I was living in! Crazy...
Stuck in Sooke for 2 days. Coming into town people were walking in the streets as the sidewalks were not completely cleared,
Remember this well, lots of fun for my family.
I remember walking with our Norwegian Elkhound, Bergen, along Beach Drive after attending a house party in the Uplands on New Years Eve-we walked in single file through tons of snow back to our home near Estevan Village-it was so beautiful and quiet,around 1 AM-not a soul around!
It started on the 24th
I was working that day and had to drive to Salt Spring that night, but the time we got off the ferry the road where closed.
Heading to Cambodia for humanitarian duties, I had planned to leave Dec 26 - but happened to bump my flight up to 24th. Good thing - Vancouver Airport was closed for (I think) 4 days.
I was 9 yeares old and i remember it well
@canadianmetalmaggot Lots of places this would be 'nothing' except it rarely snows at all in Victoria which means next to no plows, de-icers, snow tires, ski-doos, snow-shoes, skis or anything else. People were literally trapped in their homes. Good times.
So remember that! The silence. Walking down the middle of Yates street, creating a path. Watching the fortunate ones with their cross country skiis.
remember riding dirt bikes on the snowy roads for days.
The city was sooo quite ⛅️
This was 4yrs that my dad passed December 1992
I remember the old Warehouse food store and later Salvation Army store(Now Langford City Hall) collapsing across from where I lived, the landlords& Apartment managers had to clean off the flat roof of the Alana Apartments so it wouldn't do the same.
Superb!
I was living in Victoria and digging my neighbors out in Victoria and Esquimalt area and my younger brother was also digging out Victoria via of local reserve units including naval base in Esquimalt was on state of emergency orders.
Here’s me 21 Year’s later praying for snow
At the time damage and clean-up costs were pegged at around $200 million Canadian dollars. Insurance claims of $120 million were the largest for a single event in British Columbia history.
Happened the time my parents first immigrated to Canada they thought it snowed that bad every year
i remember that year i live in nanaimo and my car was buried just like one at the 4:59 point of this video it took me over an hour and a half to dig my car out.
I was so glad I still had cross country ski's!!! Made some good money shoveling roofs off lol
Best way to clear a roof is to use a rope and a horse shoe... Tie the horse shoe to the rope and throw it over the roof, then two people, one on either side walk holding the rope tight and knock the newly fallen snow right off the roof!
Doesnt work if the snow has been sitting too long though, must be done asap to work
Nice video, but here on the Peninsula, the damage to all the greenhouses, and the boats and boathouses that were broken.
and leaking roofs, damaged trees,etc. wasn’t very picturesque.
I was 9 years old when this toke place
So nice that someone made a video to remember this. Just want to point out though that 4 feet of snow shouldn't cripple a capitol city. Just look at Edmonton.....They call 4 feet of snow a beautiful summer day.
Why shouldn't it? Victoria gets snow of this magnitude...once in every...100 or so years. A decent 1+ foot dump happens roughly every 20. It would be economically irresponsible to maintain a fleet of equipment, drivers, and other items necessary to deal with this rare circumstances.
Comparing Victoria to Edmonton as an example is like comparing a duck to a salmon: it makes no sense. Edmonton gets snow like this nearly every other year, so it makes economic sense to be prepared for it. Just like it does anywhere else that actually gets an average snowfall that accumulates to over two feet. Victoria gets an average annual snowfall of 13 inches, spread out over six months, from October to March. Most of it comes in single days of less than an inch of snow.
Living here, I am glad we do not waste tax money on maintaining the equipment and personnel to handle 3+ foot deep snowfalls. It just doesn't make sense.
Ya, let's remember Victoria doesn't have the equipment to deal with this type of event. Even when it snows a little it's more hazardous here because of the dampness (makes black ice, rather than dry Edmonton) and we just don't have the equipment to get to all the streets because snow is a special event here, not a way of life. Therefore it's generally not the drivers fault, but the conditions and lack of equipment that cause the issues.
mezzoola
I believe Victoria had also very recently sold the bulk of their snow removal equipment as they had no need for it. Whoops.
Dwayne Strohm Finally someone did there research to understand my comment. The equipment was there and was sold. The ancillary operating budget and associated expenses were still on the books and pulled from taxpayers money. It was reported after the fact and buried in govt beauracracy. We still to this day have an excessive dollar value in our budget for snow removal yet no equipment or operators. The money is shrouded and funnel ed to other operations. Welcome to the joys of politics.
We have never gotten 4 feet of snow in one day in Edmonton. November 1942 we got around 2 feet of snow. US corps of Army Engineers plowed Edmonton Streets that time. They used their equipment destined for the Alaska Highway construction to plow our streets.
We lived in Gordon Head and had 2 couples over for dinner…they had to stay for 3 days before we could get out!
i lived there when this happen three day completely close !!! Trippe
We had deer in our carport out in Sooke. The snow was too deep for them to walk. Thank God the power didn't go out. I remember how great CFAX was, relaying information and updates on how different areas were coping. CHEK TV was useless, just regular programming.
Wow I forgot about that til it showed up
I was 9 at the time remember diging tunnels under the snow ❄️
Most snowfalls here I can handle with the leaf blower... or wait two days and it’s melted...
Was living in north Vancouver at this time. We had a good dump also. Spent the better part of a day with my 2 yr old son driving around, pulling out vehicles with my 4X4. At $5 a pull, dam made good money that day! Lol, thanks for the memory.
I was there for that storm
I remember the night before me and my friend Jackie went to the Oyster Bar right down town by bf got snowed in up Island, a lady was brought into the hospital by skidoo to give birth (Thankfully their was a person with a skidoo)
I wonder if snowmobile sales went up LOL I'd be out there with my Cross Country Skis
You folks need to live in the snow belt of BC. I don't think most of you have ever endured a 4.5 ft overnight snowfall such as I did as a kid. This from the interior of BC's snow belt.
what do you thinks worse, covid-19 or this snow storm.
My daily driver then was a motorcycle and I used it to get around during this storm. No shit.
Hope it Snows like this again.
For all you outside of Canada thinking "It snowed in Canada, What's the big deal? its perfectly normal". Victoria very rarely gets snow. They don't experience winter like the rest of Canada. Vancouver Island is a Rainforest. There's Palm trees there. It's a very special place. Magical!
Its even warmer in the gulf islands between victoria and vancouver, it was 14 c on new years day!
We were tanning on the beach!
I have lemon trees, a blood orange, and even a couple pink grapefruit! I was picking lettuce yesterday and strawberries from my yard... Its been so mild this winter i have had to cut my grass every week!
This region rarely ever sees snow, if it does it usually melts before it hits the ground...
We have people who wear shorts all year, some dont even wear shoes and walk around barefoot all year!
We complain here when it goes below 10c thats how spoiled we truly are!
@@c.a.greene8395 So when can I move in ? Lol
@@truman5838 sadly we have a serious housing shortage here due to all the new age hippies moving here and the retired canadians who refuse to go anywhere near the usa have taken over...
A 200 square foot closet would cost you twice as much here than in paris, new york or tokyo
Housing prices are so high, land has tripled in value over a very short time, our water table cant support any more tourism, ( tourist shower four times a day on average) they wake and swim in the lake, then have a shower not realizing it is the lake water they are washing off the lake water with! They shower after each activity during a ti e when we have 6 or more moths of pure sunshine! Not one drop of rain falls after spring is over until late winter begins... Our water table is so low here on this rock that the land is now being sold as recreational use only - if there is no house currently present... Who but the filly rich can afford a 3 million dollar campsite?
I am very lucky to be among the few with proper housing, heat and running water who isnt filly rich! Eventually i too will be pushed out due to the high cost of living... 9$ for milk, 8$ for bread, even my medication was cheaper in Yellowknife NWT ! I live 30 minutes between Vancouver and victoria as the crow flys and my food and medical bills exceed that while living in canadas far north! Go figure!
@@c.a.greene8395 Yeah but when do I move in? Lol
I was just in Victoria for about 8 months working construction. It was a beautiful summer. Not a drop of rain for weeks at a time. I just came back to Toronto couple weeks ago. I don't like the rainy season on the island. I was homeless sleeping I parks the entire 8 months I was there. It became too cold and wet to continue doing it. It's even colder here I Ontario obviously but it's my home and I have children here. I'd love to check out the gulf islands soon though. I didn't see much of the island. I'd like to go to Tofino. But i also wouldn't mind picking fruit in the okanagan valley.
So , you single by chance?
@@truman5838 i am
My husband passed away last year, my youngest son has come home to care for me... Hes driving me crazy with his 'whens dinner mom? ' shit!
'Dinner is when you make it' i tell him, im done being someones house wife, this is my time now!
I too am originally from Ontario, Brantford to be exact but i hae lived in T. O., Ottawa, pickton ( thousand islands beaches) and even in trenton close t the base CFBTrenton
Do you hunt? Fly fish? I am a hunter and i worked for a hatchery for many years in the deep bush 156km past were the road ends... Canoe only waterways, i love the bush, the far north too and i feel like going back to tuck NWT.... Any man or woman that gets with me had better know how to hunt... Or fly fish in the very least!
6:38 doesnt make sense if that is the wharf st keg where is the inner harbour
Agree something has been altered with the video!!
we are due for another storm 1996 winter snow storm 2006 wind storm 2016 ???? what's in store cheers steve ps l worked 3 day's through the 96 snow storm at mayfair towing pulling police cars and ambulances out to keep them rolling yikes
2019 feb 10 was very snowy too
Yeah, but no comparison to 96, the city was actually shut down.
I remember shoveling for days making money and it was just trails through the middle of the road
Sad to a&b sound is gone
Only thing wrong with this video is that the blizzard started the night of December 28th, not the 26th. I know, because a buddy and I got stuck in Vancouver that night as he had won tickets to Steve Nash & the Phoenix Suns visiting the Grizzlies. We didn't get home until the 30th.
Yup, he was. It was his first year. I didn't make it up, I think I'd remember something like that considering it's the only NBA gameI ever went to and my buddy said hi to Nash after the game from the stands.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Nash#Phoenix_Suns_.281996.E2.80.9398.29
Darren Conrad Nope... it was Boxing Day. I'll never forget it!
It may have snowed on Boxing Day, but the real blizzard that shut everything down started the night of the 28th.
Darren Conrad It was indeed the 26th Darren as I remember boarding a flight out of Victoria for Colorado that day and there was almost a 1 ft on the ground at the airport and there was talk we might not be flying out!!
Rod Donaldson Hey Rod, I'm not disputing that it started snowing before the 28th, but the night of the 28th is when the real blizzard happened, the one that crippled the city for three days. Before that night, people could still drive around, get on planes, travel on the ferry, etc, but that night, all of that stopped. I was stuck in Vancouver for two days because the ferries didn't run the 29th or the 30th. This is a pretty decent and detailed account of that week: www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/events/vicsnow96.htm
@canadianmetalmaggot
hahaha yeah i know, i actually originated from the island, lived in campbell river for quite a few years, snow is a big deal there, but now that i live in the north, i see what a real snow sotrm is lol
Burnaby where we got that storm in February of 2019, 2016 November, and February 2018.