I stood on my doorstep and beheld the scene — a row of vacant, red and white cottages.
The cottage-crawlers who populate Muskoka’s parks and condos were almost all without roofs.
It was March 14, and I expected chaos, not a weekend.
A snowsplash had hit Muskoka’s public roads. The cold went up, and the snow kept on coming.
A week later, things are actually looking better than they were.
You can’t even say “snowflakes” in today’s weather.
“Why all of a sudden? It’s a sign of Mother Nature, there’s a storm brewing,” Muskoka City Manager Theresa Jakubiewski said.
“The advice we’re getting is don’t give too much time, because things are going to get bad and then you’re in for some cleanup.”
It’s an answer for this winter; weak snow packs have kept Lake Ontario water temperatures from dropping, and it’s been cold enough for winds to blow the snow from the roadways instead of letting it fall.
Road crews, however, are getting their work cut out for them.
“We’re going to be okay, but it’s going to be a long, long road of maintenance,” Jakubiewski said.
We drive through roads that are in place for two or three seasons and after just four, they’re wiped out. Snowplows take weeks, months to do what two or three are doing.
But residents can forgive the denizens of Muskoka Village for their two-day-a-year patches.
If you’ve ever been to a cottage, though, you know the worry is normal.
They have their fingers crossed.
“I’m hoping that nothing will fall through the roof, but there’s still no roof on many of them,” said Joseph Mascellini.
The outlook for March through April, though, is much better than last spring.
The forecast now calls for just a 30% chance of snow, and that’s in contrast to the threat of April’s snowstorm.
Spring should be in full swing before the snowbirds make their way home to Florida.
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Powerful Flurries
Winter Storm March 23: Snowstorm in Ontario that killed four
January 25, 2016: Powerful Central Atlantic Storm Ploughs Through Niagara, Dies Away
February 26, 2014: Snowstorm Tears Through Ontario
February 26, 2014: Blizzard Tears Through Ontario
February 24, 2014: Powerful Blizzard Temps Drivers in Windsor and Buffalo
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Sources: NOLA.com, Tesla, National Weather Service
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