by Steve Selden | Mar 21, 2017 | Churchill News
A freight train loaded with food and supplies pulled into Churchill three weeks late on Monday afternoon. Since March 1st, trains have been unable to travel the heavily snow – drifted train tracks than wind there way to Churchill. Two massive blizzards had virtually shut down the town and depleted stores of food and other crucial necessities ..such as beer.
Train with supplies finally makes it to Churchill. Rhonda Reid photo.
Vintage snow plow on the front of a via train. This is what connected Churchill to the outside world. Rhonda Reid photo.
Cold temperatures like Monday’s -40 C prevail thought the clearing visibility has allowed Omnitrax, owner of the rail line into Churchill, the ability to clear the tracks and allow trains to arrive from the south. Milk, fruit and vegetables were gone and meat of any variety was in short supply. Beer, in the one liquor store in town was down to a few cases.
After Churchill was hit by the third longest – lasting – blizzard in town history, residents began digging out of the massive snowfall that was accompanied by 31 hours of zero visibility and 58 long hours storm conditions.
The landscape in and around town out past the airport and beyond has been described as a moonscape by some. Purely surrealistic conditions!
Blizzard ravished Churchill. Heidi Den – Haan photo.
by Steve Selden | Mar 19, 2017 | Videos
A very rare sight to see an airlift this time of year of a mother and cub polar bear out to the ice pack. The immense amount of snow has even made travel for polar bears difficult. Mothers and cubs can emerge from their dens in March though most families are spotted further east around Wapusk National Park. This polar bear family ended up somewhat stranded in Wapusk Adventures sled – dog yard instead. Quite the happenings in Churchill this time of year!
by Steve Selden | Mar 17, 2017 | Videos
This video footage from Tony Kwong in Yellowknife of the magical aurora borealis was posted by CBC NWt. We’ve seen some unbelievable northern lights this season in between the fierce storms! Enjoy.
by Steve Selden | Mar 16, 2017 | Churchill Photography
Incredible snow formations in Churchill highlighted by the aurora borealis. Corbin Hawkins photo.
The silver lining of the 2017 Churchill blizzard is the incredible scenery created to enhance northern lights and landscape images around the region. This majestic aurora borealis shot by Corbin Hawkins is a stunning scenic portrayal of the north at its finest. Enjoy!
by Steve Selden | Mar 15, 2017 | Videos
Rhonda Miller was driving to work in Edzo, N.W.T last Friday when she thought maybe she was still asleep and dreaming. Maybe, she thought, she needed another cup of coffee to explain what she was seeing up on the road ahead. She surely never expected what she eventually saw.
Miller thought there was a man walking along the road. “I thought that was strange because you don’t normally see people walking on the road that far out,” Miller stated.
“I slowed down a bit and I got closer. I thought it was a bear, and I thought, it can’t be a bear because it was the wrong time of year.” She suddenly spotted another animal and realized she was racing along the road with two black wolves.
“I was so struck by the size of their heads and their jaws.”
Miller recorded the wolves thinking the whole time that this was the only way anyone would believe what she witnessed. She described their frantic gait as “flat out”.
“When I got to school, I shared it with the teachers and kids,” Miller said. “Everybody was just amazed. I think just the power of them and the beauty of them, seeing them running like that, flat out, is pretty inspiring.”
