Revised - The Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport reopened at 3:34 p.m. Monday after it had been closed at around 11 a.m. that day because of the heavy snowfall.

Crews were unable to keep the runways open, and about half of the runway lights had been covered with snow.

Communications officer Oshea Jephson of the Department of Highways and Public Works said Tuesday crews were able to get the runways clear by mid-afternoon once the sun had come out shortly after noon.

The Alaska and North Klondike highways and the section of the South Klondike Highway between the Carcross Cutoff and Carcross were also reopened Tuesday morning. But the section of the South Klondike from Carcross to Skagway wasn’t reopened until 2 p.m. because crews had to clear an avalanche.

Highway crews in general have been going flat-out, Jephson said.

Most highways in the Yukon were still partly covered with snow at noon Tuesday, according to the Yukon 511 site that describes the condition of the territory’s roadways.

City crews have also been going 24-7 since Sunday night clearing main arteries, some sidestreets and beginning to remove some snow.

City operations manager Richard Graham said Tuesday they had began removing snow from priority one and two roads such as Second and Fourth avenues.

Crews have also been able to do some plowing on priority three roads, he said.

Graham said they were bringing in private contractors and their dump trucks to help with the snow removal.

The city’s grader operators can pull in snow more quickly than the city trucks can move it all, so contractors will help with the haul, and they were planning on bringing in more over the next few days, he said.

Graham said they realize the large windrows in the middle of roadways have created additional challenges for drivers and pedestrians.

But everybody just has to remain vigilant and patient as the city works through this largely unprecedented time, he said.

Graham said crews were also able to clear some of the parking lot at the Canada Games Centre.

Crews began moving into the country residential neighbourhoods Tuesday to start clearing operations, he said.

It is important, he emphasized, that motorists give the equipment room to work and stay 15 metres away, just like the signs on the equipment advise.

Graham said members of the road crew are working 12-hour shifts around the clock, and that will continue. But it’s also important to make sure they get their proper time off to prevent fatigue, he said.

It is, said Graham, a bit of a balancing act.

“I’ve never seen this much snow,” he said.

Meteorologist Doug Lundquist of Environment Canada said Tuesday Whitehorse received two record days of snowfall on Sunday and Monday.

Lundquist said at 5 a.m. last Friday, five centimetres (two inches) of snow covered the ground at the airport.

By 5 p.m. Monday, Environment Canada estimated there were 47 centimetres (18.5 inches), he said.