WE CAN’T FORGET RECORD STORMS OF 2009 AND 1995 … AND MAYBE 2022

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

MUSKOKA — Whew! That was a really “bad” one.

But think this was something? For many today their memories are frozen in last Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Some also remember 2022 as a doozy. We don’t particularly.

But according to Environment Canada on Thursday-Friday Dec. 10-11 in 2009 we had over 100 cms — not the 155 we just got.

It amounted to 95 cms with 67 the first day and 28 the next.

That Thursday snowfall was just 1 cm short of another record set on Dec. 10, 1995, when 68 cms fell.

Last week’s storm had an extra 12 hours of snow to mount up to 55 inches.

On Dec. 17, 2009, when MuskokaTODAY was still a hard copy, we were all over that stormy story. Photos MuskokaTODAY.com archives

But where were you in 1995 and 2009?

We know the 2009 storm because it was big story for you and us a week later on Thursday Dec. 17 of that year according to our archives fished out by Gravenhurst Archives man Jack Cline.

Bracebridge and Huntsville declared emergencies and motorists, too, were then stranded on hospitals and had to be rescued by snowmobiles.

And sadly, a Gravenhurst man, 60, died before being buried in a foot of snow just outside his Muskoka Beach Road home following a cardiac incident.

Greg Gilbert, an independent insurance appraiser who stabled horses, had just left his home and was walking down his lane when he slid into a ditch before being found by a neighbour who came to plow him out after Gilbert’s tractor had broken down.

“He was a nice fell,” said chiropractor Gary Taylor then who boarded his horse with his friend.

That wasn’t the only casualty. The 90-year-old Fraser family barn came down under the weight of tons of snow, said Barkway township historian Carol Fraser.

From record snowfalls to SMMH staying open with snowshoes, MuskokaTODAY.com has been front and centre with the biggest news for 30 Christmases: est. in 1994.

In Bracebridge mayor Don Coates received help from Barrie mayor David Aspden who personally brought up a fleet of plows and loaders.

We even ran a big story about how MAHC’s South Muskoka Memorial Hospital remained opened with “exceptional teamwork” CEO Barry Monaghan was quoted as saying. He added some staff arrived on snowshoes.

So snow emergencies aren’t new to Muskoka.

But each is unique.

This won’t be the last and with climate change predictions for the least amount of Arctic ice cap ever we’re sure to see more headlines like then and now.

Tell your kids and grandkids to keep their shovels handy.

This weekend and for decades to come.

Barkway historian Carol Fraser brought us this story about her family’s 90-year-old barn succumbing to the massive snowload in 2009.

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