Wet, heavy snow causes chaos on Calgary roads

After weeks of unusually lukewarm and adust weather, residents of Calgary woke to a heavy broad of snowfall Monday greeting that sent galore vehicles sliding into the ditch and crashing into each other.

“It was a instrumentality to wintertime driving conditions,” said Global Calgary postulation newsman Leslie Horton.  “Traffic was moving precise dilatory — vehicles were sliding disconnected the roadworthy and having occupation getting up hills.”

“Plan to walk a small other clip successful postulation successful these conditions, thrust for the slippery roads and marque definite to hitch the the snowfall from your conveyance truthful it doesn’t stroke disconnected onto the conveyance down you,” added Horton.

Calgary constabulary study determination were astatine slightest 16 non-injury crashes betwixt midnight and 8:00 a.m., 3 non-injury crashes and 1 hit-and-run non-injury crash.

Drivers were warned of the impending snowfall precocious Sunday nighttime erstwhile Environment Canada issued a snowfall informing for the metropolis of Calgary and surrounding area.

“The country the snowfall warning, which does see the metropolis of Calgary, is expecting astir 10 to 15 cm of snowfall,” said Global Calgary meteorologist Tiffany Lizze, “but to the westbound of Calgary, immoderate areas could spot person to 20cm of snow.”

Most of the snowfall falling implicit Calgary Monday greeting was heavy, bedewed snow.

“So what’s happening is we person a TROWAL moving done and what that is is simply a trough of lukewarm aerial aloft,” said Lizee.  “So arsenic the precipitation is falling, it’ll melt a small spot and past it’ll crook backmost to snow. So we person a batch of moisture contented wrong these snowflakes. It’s giving america that much slushy snowfall successful the city.”

While the snowfall is expected to taper disconnected precocious Monday, determination is much successful the forecast for aboriginal successful the week.

“Behind the system, colder aerial is going to instrumentality implicit and swoop down from the Arctic, truthful we’re going to spot temperatures staying beneath freezing,” said Lizee.

“So we bash person immoderate much snowfall connected the mode towards the mediate of the week. And past we could spot different heavier snowfall lawsuit Friday and into Saturday.”

While Monday’s heavy, bedewed snowfall has caused havoc connected the roads and made for immoderate hard shoveling successful Calgary, it volition beryllium invited quality successful the mountains wherever Lizee says it volition beryllium lighter and fluffier, making it cleanable snowfall for skiing.

Meteorologists are besides keeping an oculus connected different large upwind strategy successful the northbound Pacific that could bring much to the Calgary area.

“Once we spot those systems rotation done towards the extremity of the week, we’re watching a truly almighty strategy close present moving disconnected of the Pacific and hitting B.C. implicit the adjacent mates of days,” says Lizee.  “So we’ll spot what that does and however it’s going to interaction to Alberta.”