Dryden

Despite emerging evidence that we’re now in another wave of COVID-19, Ontario is digging in its heels and saying leaders are not prepared to reintroduce mask mandates, at least as of yet.

Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, says a recent trend of rising hospitalizations driven by the new ‘stealth’ BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, a more-transmissible variant of the original strain of COVID-19, is likely to continue into May.

Residents are bracing themselves for what could be 25-40 cm of snow in the region stretched over two and half days starting Wednesday (April 13, 2022).

The conditions and the amount of snow estimated to come could cause residents to be snowed in for a couple of days.

Kenora Fire Chief, Kent Readman wants residents to be prepared with a 72-hour emergency kit for homeowners and cottagers in the event they are forced to stay home.

The Dryden GM Ice Dogs head into game three of the SIJHL playoff semi-finals tonight. They'll host the Red Lake Miners at the Dog pound. The best-of-seven series is tied at one game apiece. 

The Kenora Special Olympic Bowlers are on a hot streak this week. In last night's bowling action, Jem Moeller scored the highest for the ladies, pinning 165. Tara Creason came second with 139. Michael Vivian was the top bowler for the men with 174, followed by Andrew Gordon with 150. MVP for the night went to Tanya Shaw with 65. 

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, retired teacher Lois Armstrong said local health officials where she lives in Kingston, Ont., provided daily updates about outbreaks, cases and deaths in the community. 

Now, Armstrong, 68, said the public is being asked to take a bigger role in managing their risk but information from health authorities is less available than before. Data such as the location of outbreaks, meanwhile, is no longer made public, she added.

Hopefully, residents in the region haven’t put away their snow shovels quite yet as a massive winter storm system bringing around 25-40 cm of snow is heading straight for the region.

Environment Canada is tracking a Colorado Low making it’s way north into Northwestern Ontario beginning on Wednesday afternoon (April 13, 2022), through until Friday (April 13, 2022).

Precipitation over the past week has added water to the snowpack resulting in the slow rise of many tributaries across the region.  

The Lake of the Woods Control Board issued an update on April 7, 2022, detailing their plan to regulate the outflows of Lake the Woods and Lac Seul, in accordance with the Regulation Strategy, to combat the possibility of heavy snowfall this week.  

A winter storm watch has been issued as a Colorado low barrels towards the region.

Environment Canada says between 25 and 40 cm of snow will fall across the region starting Wednesday morning into Friday morning.

The weather agency warns of strong wind gusts up to 70 km/h, leading to widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions due to heavy snow and blowing snow.

The Dryden GM Ice Dogs are back home after a split weekend against the Red Lake Miners. The Dogs took game one in the best-of-five semi-final series, but couldn't get the second win last night as the Miners won 3-2. The teams will face off tomorrow and Wednesday for games three and four at the Dog Pound. 

This week is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, honouring the telecommunication personnel dedicating their lives to public safety. 

"The dispatchers in emergency services are often forgotten about. We are the ones to take the first call with an emergency. This is a good time to promote who we are and what we do, and the fact that we are here serving you and the community," says Jenna Mattson, a local dispatcher with the Kenora Central Ambulance Communications Centre. 

It looks like winter isn't quite over yet as Environment Canada has issued a Special Weather Statement for the Kenora, Dryden, and Sioux Lookout areas in preparation for a large dump of snow. 

The agency is saying 25 to 40 cm of snow is expected as a strong low-pressure system is expected to track over northwestern Ontario beginning Wednesday afternoon through until Friday morning.

Along with the snow, strong wind gusts leading to widespread blowing snow are expected along with near-zero visibility in heavy snow and blowing snow.