Snow squall warnings end for Calgary

A semi-truck jack-knifed on the QEII near Red Deer on Thursday, hitting several vehicles including an Alberta sheriff and his cruiser.

The City of Calgary was under a snow squall warning for most of the night on Thursday, but that advisory has now been lifted.

The city was expected to see heavy bands of snow along with strong northerly winds, but Enviroment Canada says those conditions are no longer believed to be as severe as originally anticipated.

A snow squall differs from a regular winter storm due to the variabilities of high winds and heavy snow. This can cause very poor visibility for brief periods in the affected areas.

However, those heading north and west of the city should still take caution as there are still warnings in place for those areas.

They include a snowfall warning for many areas of Central Alberta and a winter storm warning for the mountain parks.

On Thursday, poor weather conditions played into a lot of crashes in Calgary. Police say they reported to 36 crashes from 6 p.m. Thursday to 4 a.m. on Friday.

The most severe weather on Thursday was in the area of Red Deer. There, a semi-truck jack-knifed and slid into an Alberta sheriff and his cruiser.

He was taken to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening condition.