Calgary hit with 40 cm of snow

CALGARY• People in Calgary and other parts of southern Alberta slipped and slid through one of the heaviest early snowstorms in almost 60 years.

Roads and highways in and around the city were covered in heavy, wet snow with more expected.

Parts of the Calgary area reported snowfall amounts of up to 40 centimetres in a 12-hour period.

Calgary police reported 251 collisions and dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed at Calgary International Airport.

To help Calgary dig out of the mess, the City of Edmonton sent 30 snowplows to assist its neighbour.

Red Deer and Medicine Hat were also sending equipment to Calgary.

“We’re dealing with an unseasonably harsh dose of winter very early in our season,” Tom Sampson, chief of Calgary’s Emergency Operations Centre said Tuesday.

“We haven’t had this much snow since 1914 and 1957, almost 60 years ago.”

People were urged to stay home and cautioned to stay off roads. The snow was expected to taper off Tuesday night and clear out of the region by Wednesday.

RCMP said the Trans-Canada Highway west of Calgary was in poor condition and they asked drivers to avoid the area.

Some Calgary residents took the storm in stride.

A video posted on social media showed a crosscountry skier gliding along a downtown sidewalk.

Photos released by the Calgary Zoo showed its pandas, who arrived at the zoo in May, frolicking in the frosty flakes.