Weather conditions rapidly deteriorated on Wednesday with rain transitioning to snow and strong north winds introducing a cold air mass resulting in falling temperatures. As expected, the initial snow that fell yesterday melted due to warmer surface temperatures, but that situation changed as the snow persisted and combined with north wind leaving surfaces icy, sticky, slushy and/or covered with snow drifts. As of 6 a.m. Thursday, blowing snow remained a problem with north winds of 20 to 40 km/h compromising visibility. There was very little lane definition on Calgary streets before the morning commute, and once traffic picked up the greatest challenges for drivers included slippery on and off-ramps, bridge decks, intersections and roadways near water and/or prone to wind gusts. In the yellow-level snowfall warning that included the City of Calgary, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) explained, “Heavy snow will continue today, with total amounts of 15 to 30 centimetres.” “Travel will likely be challenging. Roads and walkways will likely be difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow. Visibility will likely be reduced at times. Road closures are possible.” According to 511 Alberta as of 6:30 a.m., most highways across central and southern Alberta were listed as at least partially snow and ice-covered. In their orange-level snowfall warnings issued for areas east of Highway 2 and the QEII, ECCC said they are anticipating between 25 to 40 centimetres of total snowfall for those areas, which elevates the potential impact to travel, “The winds are also causing snow drifts in a number of places, including the Trans-Canada Highway near Gleichen. One report received from the community stated that snow drifts there were measured to be between 60 to 70 centimetres in some spots.” By 7 a.m., some area cameras around Red Deer appeared to be iced over, meaning visibility was compromised south and east of Calgary. Lane definition was inconsistent, in part due to falling, blowing and drifting snow. Snowfall totals have been highly variable with this event so far, and also difficult to measure since the moisture-dense snow has been blowing and drifting. There will be little improvement over the next 24 hours as temperatures remain below freezing and snow is expected to continue into the early afternoon Thursday before exiting east of the province. The daytime high in Calgary on Thursday will be almost 15 degrees below average, before gradually returning to seasonal values by Sunday. Rapid melting is likely to begin by the end of the weekend and into early next week with temperatures in Calgary forecast to reach 23 C by Tuesday. The normal range in Calgary this time of year is 12 C for the daily high and -2 C for the daily low.
