Icy roads wreak havoc as winter arrives
Calgarians skidded into the start of December, as icy roads brought dozens of crashes — but it’s only a taste of winter weather to come.
More than 90 collisions were reported from 9 p.m. Wednesday to noon on Thursday, police said, with 11 involving injuries.
One woman was killed on Deerfoot Trail around 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
However, the forecast is not going to bring any relief.
An Arctic blast is expected next week, with temperatures dropping to -20 C by Tuesday.
“Some cold weather’s on its way,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Kirk Torneby.
A ridge of high pressure building its way down from the north will bring some snow and gusting winds starting on Sunday, then the cool-down will continue on Monday with temperatures in the low minus teens, according to Torneby.
Tuesday through Thursday are expected to be the coldest days, with daytime highs near -20, and overnight lows around -25.
The freeze is forecast to stick around until the following week, although by the weekend temperatures could moderate somewhat.
Torneby noted this kind of weather isn’t out of the norm for this time of year in Calgary.
“We’ve been fortunate moving through November where it was quite a bit above average,” he added.
“We kind of have a short memory span remembering that those cold outbreaks happen, and if you look at December, it’s the second coldest month for Calgary, and you usually have about six days where the minimum temperature’s below -20.
“Not totally unexpected, that’s for sure,” he said.
“But definitely after a warm November, it’s a little bit of a shock for people.”