Bring on the Snow! City gears up for winter

With the weather expected to get colder this weekend, preparations have started for the 2015-2016 winter season.

City crews and equipment were ready for active winter services as of Nov. 1, of course the unseasonable November weather had the city basking in absolutely balmy temperatures. Contractor crews will be ready by Nov. 15.

Planning starts with an annual training exercise, where more than 50 City and contractor snowplows, graders and other vehicles used for winter maintenance, check equipment and review plowing routes throughout the community. The exercise starts this week through to Nov. 20.

This test run gives crews an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the routes as well as identify potential hazards, obstacles and operational challenges, before the winter season arrives.

If you're at all curious about how it all works, a chart outlining when crews are deployed, along with other information on winter operations, including frequently asked questions, plow standards for main and secondary roads, the overnight parking ban and winter driving tips and a drivers checklist, can be found at GreaterSudbury.ca/winter.

When we're in the thick of winter, advisories and the like from the city can be found by following the city's Twitter feed and on its Facebook page.

Naturally, NorthernLife.ca will have the latest updates as well.

Here are a few facts from last year's long and cold winter:

Winter started with the first major snowfall on Oct. 31, 2014, when 11 cm of snow fell. The last snowfall came on April 1, 2015.

Total amount of snowfall during winter 2014-2015 was 305.1 cm (compared to 312.9 during the 2013-2014 winter season).

The Amount of sand and salt used last year came to 16,300 tonnes of salt enough to fill approximately 1,600 snowplow loads) and 75,186 tonnes (7,500 snowplow loads) of salt/sand mix.