You wouldn't believe it today, but snowy winters are no novelty in Helsinki

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By Antti Manninen
     
      Recently, people seem to have got the cock-eyed idea that the concept of winter has somehow been reinvented in Helsinki.
      People have been gaping and wondering at snow drifts as high as half a metre.
     
It is high time to dig up some old newspaper photos and articles that will reveal the shocking fact that there have been bouts of severe winter weather even previously, and that we have managed to survive them, possibly even with rather better results than we have seen this year.
      ”Blizzard disrupts traffic” is a headline chestnut that has repeated itself verbatim from one decade to the next.
      It is true that in recent years this has been a somewhat less frequent situation.
      The shortage of snow and a short winter have not previously managed to annoy anyone but themost passionate skiers and children who have not been able to go tobogganing, for all that people have this year been declaring how nice it is to have a "real winter" for a change.
      Interestingly, the number of such positive comments seems to have declined appreciably the longer the snowfall has gone on - perhaps "snow fatigue" has set in.
     
As late as the 1930s, horses were used to pull snow loads from streets to the sea.
      At that point and even long after the last wars, Helsinki had numerous dumps for snow right on the waterfront.
      In 1964, the capital still listed more than 30 snow dumps, most of which were located on the shore.
      However, litter and impurities were frequently carried with the snow, which is why a number of the dumps were discarded, particularly down by the shoreline.
      Today, only a few such places are left where dumping snow into the sea is allowed.
     
At one time, police could impose fines on the owners of properties, if they neglected to shovel the snow away from pavements.
      Today such an offence could only lead to a reprimand.
      In addition to the ploughing of streets, the City of Helsinki is responsible for cleaning the pavements and for removing the snow piles in the suburbs and even in many downtown districts, including the district of Etu-Töölö.
      However, in most districts in downtown Helsinki it is the property owner’s duty to clear snow from pavements.
      Typically, the owners hire maintenance firms and janitors to do the job.
     
Since the 1960s, increasing numbers of private cars parked along streets have been a phenomenon that tends to hamper snow removal.
      Parked cars also lead to the sort of congestion that last week brought worried comments from rescue services that they might not be able to access some places because of the piles of snow.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 8.2.2010


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki considers enlisting help of Defence Forces for snow removal (3.2.2010)
  Helsinki struggles with towering drifts of snow (2.2.2010)
  Police urge motorists to avoid narrow streets with accumulated snow in Helsinki (1.2.2010)

See also:
  Some of the old images shown in this article are also seen in this cavalcade of winter pictures from Helsinki (captions in Finnish, but dates are given)

ANTTI MANNINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
antti.manninen@hs.fi