Residents dig out from Lethbridge’s first major snowfall of the season

Many people across Lethbridge had to spend time digging out after more than 15 centimetres of snow dropped overnight Thursday into Friday morning.

As the dig out continues across Lethbridge, the city has declared snow routes.

The City of Lethbridge activated snow routes after roughly 15 centimetres of snow fell Thursday night and Friday morning.

Motorists living along snow routes have until 10 a.m. on Saturday to move their vehicle off of the street to allow plows to clear the roads.

“There’s 81 kilometres and we only have so many resources so we can’t plow everybody at the same time,” said Juliane Ruck, transportation operations manager with the City of Lethbridge.

“Normally, it takes us 24 to 36 hours to get that completed.”

While city crews will be out 24/7 plowing and sanding the roads, driving experts say drivers need to be prepared.

“Watch out for other drivers and give yourself enough room to react if need and staying proactive and sharing the road,” said Gere Woldu, a novice instructions supervisor with Alberta Motor Association south zone.

The change in season has also brought a rush for winter tire installations.

“The chances of you sliding are higher if you don’t have winter tires versus when you have winter tires which respond to the snow and coldness,” said Woldu.

Winter lights festival

Snow routes were declared following the heavy snowfall, which came just in time for the start of Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden’s Winter Lights Festival.

“Obviously, that snow adds to that magical experience of course,” said Eric Granson, sales and marketing manager with Nikka Yuko.

This year marks the tenth anniversary for the winter festival. Staff have transformed the Japanese gardens into a winter wonderland, depicting all four seasons with more than 170,000 lights.

“It’s really just the community impact and the look on everyone’s faces -- that emotional kind of piece to our community,” said Granson.

“Being 10 years here, we don’t want this garden and this place to be, ‘oh, I saw it last year’ -- we really do enhance it every year and we do take a lot of pride in that.”

The Winter Lights Festival will open for the season on Saturday night.

Vulnerable population

As temperatures throughout the weekend continue to drop, with wind chills reaching -20 C, outreach groups are actively collecting winter clothing for the vulnerable population.

“We’re looking for any warm winter clothing, jackets, boots, socks, or toques. Hand and foot warmers and hygiene essentials,” said Shauna Cohen, associate director of Wood’s Homes in Lethbridge.

The outreach organization supports about 350 youth through its services each year, including ensuring they have the proper clothing to brave the elements.

“When it comes to extreme temperatures like really, really cold temperatures or even really hot temperatures in the summertime, we do make these asks just so we can ensure young people are equipped with what they need to face the elements,” said Cohen.

Donations of winter clothing can be dropped off at either of Wood’s Homes locations in Lethbridge.