Snowfall expected to continue overnight in Calgary and area

The blanket of snow that Calgarians woke up to on Monday morning is continuing to impact evening commuters, with snowfall expected to continue overnight in some areas. 

Heather Pimiskern, a forecaster with Environment Canada, said the amount that accumulated in and around Calgary ranged from five centimetres in the city's northeast to 15 centimetres around the Diamond Valley area. 

With road conditions still spotty both in and outside of the city, the agency is warning drivers to prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions.

A multi-vehicle collision at about 10:30 a.m. near Cluny, Alta., involving a pickup truck and several commercial tractor-trailers, has left a 51-year-old man dead, RCMP said in a release.

While the investigation is still ongoing, officials said poor road conditions are believed to have been a factor in the collision. RCMP said the deceased was the driver of the pickup. 

From midnight to 4 p.m. on Monday, Calgary police reported 170 non-injury collisions, 31 non-injury hit and runs, 18 injury-causing collisions and two injury-causing hit and runs.

According to 511 Alberta, most major highways leading out of Calgary are either partly or fully covered with snow and ice, including the 1, 1A, 8 and 22X. 

Pimiskern said that while Environment Canada has lifted the snowfall warning it issued earlier in the day for Calgary, it does predict up to two more centimetres to fall in the evening, with flurry activity expected overnight.

Conditions should clear up by Tuesday, bringing some sunshine interspersed by light flurries, Pimiskern said. 

Earlier on Monday, the agency issued snowfall warnings to other southern Alberta municipalities, including Foothills County, Willow Creek, Mountain View County, Rocky View County and Kananaskis. 

Pimiskern said areas west of Calgary could receive an additional five to 10 cm of snow overnight into Tuesday morning. 

The winter weather has also led to some transit delays. Calgary Transit said that due to weather conditions, some bus routes might be behind schedule or required to detour.

As of 5:30 p.m., Calgary Transit had eight bus routes on snow detours.

Chris Hewitt, the city's mobility maintenance manager, said Calgarians should expect winter driving conditions throughout the day.

He said crews were anticipated to manage the storm effectively due to weather conditions improving, noting the snow was expected to taper off by early evening.

"We should be planning a little more time for our trips, leaving a little more stopping distance, clearing off cars," Hewitt said.

City crews will first provide additional support to clear major, Priority 1 roads like Crowchild Trail, Glenmore Trail and 16th Avenue N.W., which he projected should last 18 hours.

From there, work will begin on Priority 2 roads, which includes bus routes and major roads in residential communities, with the city hoping to clear those roads in the following 18 hours.

Once the snow stops falling, the city will begin clearing sidewalks, bike lanes and accessibility routes, with a goal of completing these areas within 24 hours.

Hewitt also noted the city is running a pilot project this year where smaller trucks plow some of the Priority 1 roads while larger trucks work on the major roads in the first 18 hours after the snowfall. While these efforts aren't as effective as using larger trucks, the project is designed to stop snow from accumulating on these routes and to keep traffic moving.

Looking ahead, Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Justin Shelley said not a lot of precipitation is expected in the Calgary area this week, aside from a flurry or two.

But after Calgary had been tracking five degrees above its average November temperature, the month is expected to end anywhere from five to 10 degrees below average.

"We are currently transitioning into a weak La Niña on the global scale. So typically that means cooler temperatures and more precipitation for Western Canada," Shelley said. "As we head later into the winter, those signals get stronger. So we're starting to see the beginning of that right now, but I would expect more to come in the months ahead."

Calgary had seen a remarkably mild and dry fall before Monday, with three centimetres of snow recorded in the city since the beginning of September.

With the cooler temperature, most of Monday's snowfall is expected to stick around for the foreseeable future, Shelley said. He added that more precipitation will be helpful for Alberta through the winter, ahead of next year's wildfire season.

"As we saw in recent years during the wildfire seasons, the lack of precipitation over the fall, winter and spring periods can have impacts later on in the year," Shelley said. "We will certainly be hoping for more precipitation — not just in Calgary, but across the province this winter."

Andy Woodward, a staff sergeant with the Calgary Police Service's traffic section, said they've recorded 16 non-injury collisions, three collisions resulting in non-serious injuries, and one hit and run, from midnight to 8 a.m. on Monday. These totals are up slightly from the average number of collisions that CPS sees, which Woodward said is just above 10 per day.

Woodward advised drivers to ensure they have good tires and good visibility during the snowfall, to have a snow brush and shovel with them, and, most of all, to reduce their speed on the road.

"Speed is massive," Woodward said. "A lot of people really do feel that they can drive at the same speed limit as they do on a normal dry day, and unfortunately some of the consequences we see with vehicles in the ditches is due to speed."