Massive Canadian snow piles survive scorching 97-degree heatwave

Massive Canadian snow piles that have been lingering since winter are still standing tall — after miraculously surviving last week’s heat wave, where temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

A gargantuan snow heap that has been piling up near Toronto’s Downsview Park since this winter continues to hold its shape, even after temperatures hit a record-breaking 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit last week, CP24 reported.

The mountain of snow was left by an equally record-breaking winter for Toronto.

A gargantuan snow heap that has been piling up near Toronto’s Downsview Park since this winter continues to hold its shape, CP24 reported. CP24

A whopping 18 inches of snow fell in one day at Toronto Pearson International Airport on January 26 – breaking a record held since the 1960s. 

Toronto’s snow heap isn’t the only snow pile left standing after the brutal hot spell. 

An 18-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide snow pile in the city of Barrie – 60 miles from Toronto – has also held its shape in spite of the scorching weather, CTV News reported. 

But while both snow piles have failed to melt, their appearance is far from that of a winter wonderland. 

The Barrie snow pile’s white surface has taken on a gray countenance, in stark contrast to the lush white when it was initially stacked back in the winter. 

And the pile in Toronto looks more like dirt than snow, having been firmly packed in with debris and baking in the summer heat. 

The pile in Toronto looks more like dirt than snow, having been firmly packed in with debris and baking in the summer heat.  CP24

Officials said that while the tight packaging of the snow contributes to its nasty appearance, it’s also part of the reason that the snow piles continue to stay together through the heat. 

“We actually brought in a bulldozer to compact it similar to what we do at the landfill,” the director of operations for Barrie, Dave Friary, told CTV News. 

“[T]hat’s one of the reasons why it’s hanging around so long.” 

Officials said that both piles are slowly but surely melting and are expected to vanish fully sometime in August.