There’s ‘s’no’ time like blizzard time to build an igloo

Anna-Mae and Jhett with their igloo in the daytime

This weekend’s extreme cold and snow were just what Anna-Mae and Jhett Wikkerink needed – along with a little help from mom and dad – to create a colourful igloo at their home in Picton.

Saturday’s temperature at around -17 (-23 with wind chill) was perfect for them to quickly freeze water in aluminum pans. First they added red, blue and yellow Jello powders to colour the ‘blocks’.

“We started on Saturday morning and finished it up tonight (Sunday) in the blizzard outside,” mom Jocelyn reports. She captured the fun with the photographs here, and a small video to share with friends. “When Ontario says polar vortex, but the kids say ‘Let’s build an igloo’.”

The igloo lit up at night

The County, so far, is seeing a typical storm where some are reporting up to 30cm of snow, while others state there’s much less, others much more, in their driveways. And while most prepared for the worst with a quick shopping spree for “storm chips” and other necessities, on Saturday, the biggest snowfall Sunday’s was on a portion of the Toronto area – where it is expected 60cm could become a record-breaking tally.

Environment Canada continues its  snowfall warning for the County forecasting that snow, at times heavy, (20 to 40 cms and with peak snowfall rates of 4 to 8 cm per hour) will change to light snow late Sunday evening, but continue overnight.

Monday, residents are told to expect snow ending in the morning, then a mix of sun and cloud with a high of -10 and a wind chill near -21.