Snow Drifts of Labrador City

In autumn, town employees erect signs to show the location of fire hydrants. This has a three-fold purpose:

After snowstorms, the town employees can easily find and clear snow to maintain access.
Snow removal equipment doesn't accidentally break one.
In the event of a fire, volunteer firefighters can easily find the hydrants.

It is rare to find a fire hydrant still covered with snow because city employees are very quick to maintain safety standards.

		When the spring thaw starts in April, it's hard to believe there has been an accumulation of about 426 cm (14 ft) of snow. The snow "freezer burns," especially in January and February, and shrinks just like the ice in your freezer. However, our winter temperatures are much colder then you'd find in any home refrigerator. The January daily mean is -22°C (-8°F) and in February 1973, the extreme minimum was -47.8°C (-54°F). In 2002, a new extreme minimum for January was recorded. These temperatures do not include wind chill which can reach -100°C (-148°F) or lower.
Although this home looks similar to the one above, it is a different home (note the chimney and different style roof peak).		In 1998, Labrador City received 549 cm (18 ft) of snow; however, in the winter of 2000 only 346 cm (11 ft) accumulated. Although it may seem strange, the further north you travel, the lower the average annual snow accumulation. As a comparison, the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Africa, receives more snow annually then Northern Labrador which receives between 169-190 cm (67-75 in). Even this amount is higher than the average annual arctic snowfall of 101 cm (40 in). Rochester, New York, has the largest amount of snow for any large city in the US of 234 cm (7½ ft) annually, about half the amount that falls on Labrador City.