Following near-record snowfall since November, Whitehorse residents should prepare themselves for a cold spring.

Bill Miller, of Environment Canada's Whitehorse weather office, said in an interview this morning the city's long-term forecast is for cold, cold and more cold.

'This morning was -17 C; I can honestly say this is unusual,' Miller said.

'When you look at our numbers, we're looking at temperatures in the -15 C range. We'll be -24 C on Wednesday morning. I have to go all the way back to the beginning of February to get lows like that.'

The weather on April 1, he said, was between five and 10 degrees below normal.

Miller said the unseasonably cold temperatures seen throughout March, which had mean temperatures six degrees below the normal of -12.8 C, are forecast to continue, with cold mornings and moderate days.

'When looking at our 90-day forecast, we'll be continuing our below-normal temperatures; that brings us into June.'

Miller said this March's high level of snowfall, more than double the average at 35.8 cm, has been a consistent theme since November.

'From November to March, we've seen 149.7 cm of snow fall; that's puts as at fourth (since record keeping began in 1942),' he said.

The record, according to Environment Canada, was set in 1991/92 at 177.7 cm follow by 1990/91 at 152.4 cm and 1984/85 at 151.6 cm.

'It's unusual, but it happens,' Miller said.

City public works manager Jim McLeod said this morning his crews have been working overtime this winter to keep snow off the roads and are now pushing the limits with their sanders.

'We're out there overtime, we're still out there and we've hired extra trucks,' he said.

Because frost levels have been consistently deep this year, even when the weather warms up during the day, the snow melts but then turns to ice because the ground is cold.

'Last year at this time we were already street-sweeping,' he said.

'This is going to delay things such as line painting.'

McLeod said because frost levels are varying between 4.2 metres and 2.8 metres in the city, he's cautioning city residents not to turn off the freeze protection in their water systems.

'We're watching the water and sewer systems; people shouldn't turn off their protection,' he said.