Many places in BC and Alberta have upper levels that require a lot of snow removal.
File Photo KDG
Easter Monday saw wet and rainy weather in Merritt, turning to heavy snowfall in the higher levels. Six inches of the heavy white stuff is reported on the highway east of Merritt. Hamilton Hill is an iconic landmark in view of downtown and begins the rise to the circa 1700 meter sea level summit of the Coqihalla connector to Kelowna above and the 600 meter elevation of the City of Merritt. The hill is called Hamilton after Merritt’s founder s middle name. William Hamilton Merritt the third. Merritt also married the daughter of Scottish retailer, Canadian Robert Simpson whose chain department store was also a Canadian Icon.
The city of Merritt, British Columbia is named after William Hamilton Merritt III, due to his role in bringing the railway through the Nicola Valley. In 1891, Merritt prospected for coal near where the city is today. Finding it, he organized the Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Coal and Railway Company to extend the rail line through to transport coal out of the valley. The railway also allowed settlement and industry to flourish in the valley. As demand for coal grew, the company was eventually bought by the Canadian Pacific Railway. source Wikipedia.
The video cams on the 1200 meter summit highway 5 Coqihalla shows new snow but not sticking to the road way in the afternoon on Monday. The 97 C highway cams at the 1700 Penask summit were not available at this writing.
On this day: March 29th 1886
Doctor John Pemberton brews his first bottle of Coca- Cola in his back yard in Atlanta.
Kevin Griffiths
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