Schools close, buses run late during wind-chill warning
Several schools in the Calgary area closed Monday morning as temperatures felt like –35 C with the wind chill, while buses were running late or not at all within the city.
Public and Catholic schools were closed in Cochrane, Bearspaw, Westbrook, Bragg Creek, Springbank, Pincher Creek and Lundbreck. In Calgary, Edge School for Athletics, Calgary Academy, and River Valley School were closed.
In many rural areas, school buses weren't operating. Calgary school boards warned parents not to leave children unattended at bus stops because some buses were late and others weren't running at all.
Environment Canada has lifted a wind-chill warning for Calgary, but the warning continued for most of southern Alberta by mid-morning Monday.
Calgary's chilly weather started after 13 to 15 centimetres of snow fell on Friday.
The snowfall made for difficult driving conditions, with Calgary police reporting 12 collisions with injuries and 121 collisions in which no one was hurt between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Passengers looking for information about flights on Friday evening crashed the Calgary Airport Authority's website. A temporary site has been launched with arrival and departure information, and on Monday morning at least two dozen flights were departing late.
On Sunday, towing companies were in big demand, with some operators advising motorists that it would likely take 18 hours to get a truck.
Mark Janzen of ACS Plumbing and Heating said he put in a lot of overtime fixing frozen water pipes and faulty furnaces over the weekend.
"Anything from dirty filters and people not getting enough heat, to furnaces just totally breaking down," he said.
Fire crews and construction workers strove to contain a major leak in the east tower of Bankers Hall downtown on Monday, as water filled stairwells and poured into the main lobby.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta as well as U.S. neighbour North Dakota are in a mid-December deep freeze, with temperatures as much as 15 to 20 degrees below normal for this time of year.