In a year of unusual meteorological events from heat domes to atmospheric rivers, it seems appropriate to close the year's MH foyer displays with some historic photos to put them in context.

1) Oak Bay Avenue at Hampshire, looking west, during the December 1996 snowstorm. Photographer: Oak Bay Fire Dept, 29 December 1996. OBA PHOT: 2012-001-146 View online

Anyone who was living in Victoria in the winter of 1996-97 will remember that Big Snow: “The blizzard of 1996 set records by dropping 124 centimetres of snow in Victoria between Dec. 22 and Dec. 29. The worst blast of winter weather to reach Vancouver Island since 1916 brought multi-million dollar damages to the region” Keri Coles, Victoria News Dec. 27, 2018

Did you know that record had stood for 80 years? Fortunately for us, the Big Snow of 1916 was unusual enough for its time for contemporary photographers to record it.

"Because of the massive amount of snow, the army deployed 150 soldiers [from Willows Camp in Oak Bay] to the city to help – soldiers from the 88th Battalion (Victoria Fusiliers), the 67th Battalion (Western Scots) and 103rd Overseas Battalion. In some areas, the snowdrifts piled up to 70 inches in depth." - Michaela Ludwig, British Columbia Magazine, November 2, 2016 For a contemporary account, see the Daily Colonist newspaper, 4 February 1916, p.4

On the same day, the Daily Colonist noted :“The municipality of Oak Bay made considerable progress yesterday towards opening up the main thoroughfares to traffic. A gang of men worked all day with teams and a snow plough and by tomorrow night it is expected that it will be possible for merchants to reach all parts of the municipality with their deliveries.” - Daily Colonist newspaper, 4 February 1916, p.5.

2) Oak Bay Public Works crew, aided by the municipal horse team, clear the tracks at the Oak Bay Street Car terminus, near the corner of Newport and Windsor Road. Public Works Superintendent Samuel Gunter on the right. Oak Bay Hotel in background, far right. February 1916. OBA PHOT: 1994-001-022 View online

The one mention of the Big Snow in Oak Bay Council minutes, apart from the lack of meetings in the first part of February, is:

“The Reeve stated that he would like to have a letter sent to the B.C. Electric [Railway] Company thanking them for hauling out the coal free of charge during the recent severe weather… The Reeve also stated that he had sent a letter to the Admiralty thanking them for supplying the Municipality with 2000 sacks, as without such it would have been impossible to have obtained the coal.”

- Oak Bay Municipal Records. Council Minutes 1916, p.11.

3) Clearing Government at Johnson Street during the Great Snow of 1916. At left is 1401 Government St, designed by Leonard Buttress Trimen and built 1881 for EG Prior Hardware, now a listed heritage building. Copy loan from private collection – original not held at Oak Bay Archives. Patrick Family Album, 1916. OBA PHOT: 2015-000-014 View online

4) Horse drawn snow plow clearing Government Street at Fisgard after the Great Snow of 1916. Copy loan from private collection – original not held at Oak Bay Archives. Patrick Family Album, 1916. OBA PHOT: 2015-000-020 View online

5) The #2 Oak Bay Streetcar makes its way along Douglas Street through the snow. Copy loan from private collection – original not held at Oak Bay Archives. Patrick Family Album, 1916. OBA PHOT 2015-000-015 View online

It's not so surprising that an exceptional weather event like the 1916 snowfall might have prompted photographers to get outside and record it (did they use snowshoes? skis?) whatever the equipment and effort required, but outdoor and informal photographs proliferated with the advent of the highly portable, simple to use Kodak Brownie box camera in 1900. Here are some more photos of historic Oak Bay weather, datable from album context to pre-1920.

6) Downtown Victoria after snow fall, near James Bay. Photographer: Frank Burrell, ca.1900. OBA PHOT: 2010-010-285 View online

7) Homes in the snow: looking west from Gonzales Hill, over Foul Bay Beach. Unwin-Hinkins album, ca. 1916. OBA PHOT: 2006-006-012 View online

8) House in Oak Bay ?near Gonzales Hill after snowfall. Unwin-Hinkins family album, ND ca. 1916. OBA PHOT: 2006-006-013 View online

9) Snowy tree-lined road, probably in south Oak Bay. Unwin-Hinkins family album, ND ca. 1915-16. OBA PHOT: 2006-006-015 View online

Personal photo albums include images of windy or stormy weather as well as picturesque snowy scenes. How different would a photo look taken from these locations today?

10) Looking toward Trial Islands from Shoal (McNeill) Bay on a stormy day. Unwin-Hinkins family album, ca.1915. OBA PHOT 2006-006-009 View online

11) Stormy weather at Shoal (McNeill) Bay, looking east toward Anderson Hill. Unwin-Hinkins family album, ca.1915. OBA PHOT: 2006-006-010 View online

12) Storm over Oak Bay, taken by Frank Burrell ca. 1910. OBA PHOTO 2010-010-197. View online

All photos displayed are modern prints from digital images. Most are enlarged, cropped and manipulated for colour and contrast.

Interested? Read contemporary accounts of the Big Snow of February 1916 and its aftermath in the Victoria Daily Colonist and Victoria Daily Times newspapers

More digital images of the Big Snow of 1916 (and other weather events) are available on the websites of Esquimalt, Saanich and City of Victoria Archives, and the BC Archives

Do you have family stories, photographs or other records of historically bad or beautiful weather in Oak Bay? Please get in touch!

Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives

Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/our-community/archives/photographs-view

Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives

Email: archives@oakbay.ca

Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander, 9 December 2021.