Maple Ridge has skated through the cold snap and is now looking at buckets of rain falling on cold streets and snow-plugged drains by Sunday.
The weather service contracted by the city, Northwest Weather Net, is calling for snow on Sunday, followed by rain said Walter Oleschak, superintendent of roads.
So far, after more than a week of cold weather, Maple Ridge is coping.
The main snowfall accumulations took place last weekend, starting early Friday morning, Dec. 9. A total of about 10 centimetres of snow fell, with more in the west part of Maple Ridge.
“No real issues, all priority routes were kept open,” said Oleschak.
Maple Ridge public works crews got on to the roads early Friday, with 14 staff running 12 trucks fitted with snow plows.
Major routes were the priority, with side streets taken care of later in the week.
Like most cities now, Maple Ridge sprays a mixture of water and salt on to the roads if snow is expected. That gives crews at least two to three hours leeway before snow starts to accumulate on the pavement.
Spraying brine is also much cheaper, costing the city about six cents a litre compared to $100 a tonne for road salt. The city prepares its own brine at its public works yard, using a 45-per-cent-salt mixture.
The coldest days happened at the end of the week with Thursday seeing a low of -10 C.
Ridge Meadows RCMP report no weather-related incidents during the past week.
Under the city’s bylaw, homeowners and businesses have to clear snow from their sidewalks by 10 a.m. the next day.
The city also worked with Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting as it kept the Lougheed Highway drivable during the cold snap.
The city warned people of the snowfall in a Dec. 8 news release.
• For more information updates, see http://www.mapleridge.ca/1230.