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It's May long weekend, so this must be SNOW!

It's the May long weekend ... therefore there must be snow. It's the first real camping weekend of the season .... therefore, somewhere, there must be snow. This is Alberta, after all.

Victoria Day weekend starts, naturally, with heavy snowfall warnings for much of west-central Alberta

Rick McConnell · CBC News ·
Chris Lane, who works for CBC in Saskatchewan, posted this cheery photo on Twitter this morning. "I'm on my way home to Grande Prairie today and my dad (Mike Lane) sent me this photo. This is the scene that's kicking off May long weekend up there! Location is our farmyard near Wanham, AB. " (Mike Lane)

It's the May long weekend ... therefore there must be snow.

It's the first real camping weekend of the season .... therefore, somewhere, there must be snow.

This is Alberta, after all.

So it will come as no surprise, really, that there are snowfall warnings across much of west-central Alberta.

At 10:22 a.m., Environment Canada issued snowfall warnings for:

  • County of Grande Prairie, near Grande Prairie, Beaverlodge, Sexsmith, La Glace, Hythe, Demmitt and Wembley;
  • The Municipal District of Greenview No. 16, near Valleyview, Sturgeon Lake, Debolt, Little Smoky, O'Brien Provincial Park, Big Mountain Creek, New Fish Creek, Wapiti and Shuttler Recreation Area.

The Municipal District of Greenview No. 16 also issued a winter storm alert.

"Heavy snow conditions are affecting townships and range roads throughout the eastern half of Greenview," according to the alert, issued at 10:45 a.m. Friday. "Fallen branches or wires can create dangerous conditions and may cause power outages."

Total amounts of snowfall in those areas could reach 15 to 25 cm.

Snowfall warnings were also issued at 10:22 a.m. for:

  • The County of Birch Hills, near Eaglesham, Wanham and Peoria;
  • The County of Clear Hills, near Chinchaga Wildland Provincial Park, Cleardale, Worsley,Cherry Point, Hines Creek and Eureka River;
  • The County of Northern Lights, near Dixonville, Cardinal Lake, Manning and Notikewin Provincial Park;
  • The Municipal District of Big Lakes, near High Prairie and Winagami Lake;
  • The Municipal District of Fairview, including Fairview, Whitelaw and Dunvegan;
  • The Municipal District of Peace, including Grimshaw and Berwyn;
  • The Municipal District of Smoky River, including Falher, McLennan and Guy;
  • The Municipal District  of Spirit River, including Spirit River and Rycroft;
  • Northern Sunrise County, near Keppler Creek, Peace River, Nampa and Three Creeks;
  • Saddle Hills County, near Bay Tree, Silver Valley, Moonshine Lake Provincial Park and Woking.

Total snowfall amounts in those areas could reach 15 to 25 cm.

Snowfall warnings were later added, at 11:45 a.m., for:

The Municipal District of Big Lakes, near Swan Hills
The Municipal District of Greenview, near Fox Creek
Woodlands County, near Benbow, Windfall, Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park, Goose Lake, Whitecourt and Blue Ridge;
Yellowhead County, near Edson, Sundance Provincial Park, Peers and Niton Junction.

For many people in the Greenview region, it's been a week of fire and ice.

Last weekend, an out-of-control wildfire burning about 10 km north of Fox Creek led to mandatory evacuations in the Municipal District of Greenview.

The evacuation areas were south of the hamlet of Little Smoky, south of the Iosegun River and all of Township 65 on both sides of Highway 43.

A state of local emergency was declared for those areas.

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