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After a dry fall up to this point, Calgary woke up to a blanket of snow on Monday morning.
Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for Calgary, with about 10 to 15 centimetres of snow expected.
The agency said heavy snow in the morning was expected to ease during the day, which may lead to a significant impact on rush-hour traffic in urban areas. Environment Canada projected more snow to fall throughout the week.
Environment Canada warned drivers to adjust their driving with changing road conditions, and to prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions.
The winter weather has led to some transit delays on Monday morning. Calgary Transit said that due to weather conditions, some bus routes might be behind schedule or required to detour.
As of 10 a.m., Calgary Transit had four bus routes on snow detours:
Route 2 (Mount Pleasant/Killarney).
Route 14 (Bridlewood/Cranston).
Route 17 (Renfrew/Ramsay).
Route 20 (Heritage Station/Northmount Drive).
Several stops around the city were temporarily closed and not receiving service due to the weather.
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.”
Source: cbc
