Never take spring for granted

The ‘Easter nor’easter’ our area received the weekend before last should have been a reminder to us all not to take spring for granted, especially in a place like Nova Scotia where the weather is unpredictable at the best of times.

Many people – including, we expect, the Department of Transportation – were taken by aback by the amount of snow we received in a relatively short time, made even worse by strong winds that blew the flakes into drifts.

Luckily, there didn’t seem to be many accidents – maybe people used common sense and stayed home except for unavoidable emergencies. That was a blessing considering how long it seemed to take to get some of our roads cleared.

It’s not unusual to be lulled into a false sense of security by a week or more of undeniably spring-like weather, but it’s also not peculiar, especially for our region, to have snow in April, often in significant amounts.

Keeping in mind that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (as the old saying goes) and it’s better to be safe than sorry, it probably might have been a good idea to keep those snow tires on a week or two longer, just in case.

As for the often treacherous road conditions, we don’t know why it took so long to get some of those snowbound roads cleared, especially the ones off the beaten track, but even if you give busy DOT staff the benefit of the doubt, there’s no excuse for it.

We’d prefer not to think that the snowplowing equipment, or at least some of it, had been put away or dismantled until next winter, but that might’ve been the case.

If so, it was probably premature as things turned out, given our history of wintry weather well into spring and the fact that no one likely had overshot their municipal snow removal budget with the kind of winter we had overall.

The bottom line is, when it comes to winter weather – and winter driving – it’s probably better to plan for the worst and hope for the best. It’s good advice to follow, whether you’re plowing the snow or trying to drive in it.