Chinook fails to melt Calgary's streets

The snow remaining on Calgary's streets after 12 days of above zero temperatures resembles "glacier ice," says a local climatologist.

The warming winds of the chinook blowing through Calgary have thawed most of the city's front yards, but streets remain covered in a mixture of snow, ice and sand.

Shawn Marshall, University of Calgary climatologist, studies glaciers in the rocky mountains during the summer. He said after a cold night it can take half the next day before any thawing will take place on a glacier.

According to Marshall, Calgary's streets are enduring a similar process.

"There is much more snow here than normal," said Marshall. "It never really goes away. We're just melting the same bit of snow and ice over and over again. This looks more like glacier ice than snow."

Traffic, along with repetitive thawing and freezing, is making the remaining snow dense and hard to melt, said Marshall.

The chinook, which began on Jan. 8, has now passed and been followed by below zero temperatures.