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Around Nunavut
March
7, 2003
Forces members lost and found
Two Canadian Forces members
and two Canadian Rangers stranded in a blizzard for about 24 hours were found
safe this week and returned to Rankin Inlet on March 4. After surviving windchill
temperatures of -78 °C, Ranger Nippi Alogut of Chesterfield Inlet arrived
in Rankin Inlet on his own at about 2:45 p.m. with no injuries.
Ranger Kevin Issaluk of
Chesterfield Inlet, Capt. Bob Saunders of Canadian Forces Northern area, Yellowknife
and Sgt. Bill Lepatourel of Canadian Forces Northern area, Yellowknife, were
met by two members of the Baker Lake Canadian Ranger patrol mid-afternoon on
March 3, while a C-130 Hercules aircraft flew overhead to provide additional
support if needed.
The group made its way
to a cabin about 50 kilometres outside of Rankin Inlet where Rangers provided
additional fuel from the community. After a rest, both groups made their way
back to Rankin Inlet, arriving at about midnight on March 4.
Saunders sustained minor
frostbite to the tips of his fingers and nose and Lepatourel was sent to Winnipeg
to see a specialist about his frostbitten feet. Neither Ranger sustained any
injury.
The four Forces members
were participating in an exercise involving Rangers from Rankin Inlet, Whale
Cove and Arviat and were separated from the main party as they were returning
to Rankin Inlet on March 2 at about 11 p.m.
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March
7, 2003
Winter weather stats up and down
December and January were
warmer than usual in Iqaluit this winter, but February bucked the trend with
colder than usual temperatures.
December posted a monthly
mean temperature nearly four degrees warmer than normal in the capital city
and two warm spells hit record temperatures 10 °C warmer than usual.
January was even balmier,
with a monthly mean 5.5 °C warmer than normal. The warmest winter temperature,
-1 °C, was recorded on Jan. 10 during an 11-day warm spell.
The coldest winter temperature,
however, was recorded on Feb. 11 when the overnight low dipped to -41.1 °C
with the windchill.
At 53 mm, Iqaluit was
close to its winter season normal of 54.3 mm. With a winter sunshine level of
133.8 hours, Iqaluit recorded its dullest winter in 39 years.
Rankin Inlet's winter
was normal, statistically speaking, with the seasonal mean temperature deviating
from the norm by only 0.5 °C. Precipitation amounts were also close to the
normal of 26.8 mm at 26.4 mm.
But December was an abnormally
warm month for the community. The warmest temperature of the season, -2 °C,
was recorded Dec. 17 in the middle of a seven-day warm period when temperatures
were 10 °C to 20 °C warmer than normal. New record maximum temperatures
were set five days in a row.
January continued the
trend, being the warmest January on record for Rankin Inlet. A new record maximum
temperature, -12.9 °C, was set Jan. 6.
The blizzards returned
to the community in February and the coldest temperature of the winter season,
-40 °C, was recorded on Feb. 4. Precipitation amounts were near normal in
December, higher than normal in January and dry in February.
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March
7, 2003
Fueling the fire
After reading a story in
Nunatsiaq News regarding problems with heating fuel in Cape Dorset, Uqqummiut
MLA David Iqaqrialu ran straight to his furnace to see if everything was all
right.
But after checking, he
still wasn't sure. So when MLAs returned to the legislative assembly on Tuesday,
he was quick to ask Peter Kattuk, the minister of public works and services,
if he had cause to worry.
"I want to know if
any studies are being done to see if the diesel fuel is good in my community,"
Iqaqrialu said.
He went on to suggest
that faulty heating fuel may have been the cause of the fire that burned down
the fire hall in Clyde River, his home community.
"It brings up the
question of whether the heating fuel is of good quality," he said. "Can
your department do a study on it before any other problems come about?"
he asked Kattuk.
The minister said he had
heard about the problems in Cape Dorset, and that samples had indeed been sent
out for testing.
At that, Iqaqrialu seemed
pleased, but informed Kattuk that, "the [diesel] stank and seems almost
lethal if you smell it."
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