REGINA -- A string of warmer temperatures is leading to a quick melt in Saskatchewan, only a few weeks removed from a stretch of bitterly cold conditions.
"We can feel the sun being warmer and we have these big weather systems moving through, that's the definition of Spring," said Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
With the melt comes a flow of water onto city streets and it's important to make sure it has somewhere to go. Many catch basins in the city are frozen over after a winter that saw snow in a cycle of freeze and thaw, in some cases creating layers of ice starting with snowfalls as early as November.
The City of Regina said the first course of action in dealing with a blocked storm drain is to wait and see.
"Give 24, 48 hours of good sunshine on that storm drain, if it doesn’t open up and there’s significant water starting to pond in the area and now it’s starting to encroach on your property you can certainly put in a service request," said Helene Henning-Hill, the manager of sewer and drainage operations with the City.
While a call can be made, there are another 22,000 catch basins in Regina and crews won't be able to get to all of them, so the City says it appreciates any efforts from residents to chip away at ice and snow buildup to help get water moving out of streets more quickly.
“The traditional way and the one that my husband and I often use is just using a spade and just poking at it, trying to the get the grates open," Henning-Hill said.
The City added once any water is able to start flowing into the drain, the resulting ripple effect combined with continued melt can speed up the rest of the unthaw.
