‘Everything is conspiring to make the roads treacherous’: AMA spokesman

EDMONTON - Edmonton commuters were in for a rough ride Thursday morning as a burst of wintry weather brought heavy snow and strong winds, contributing to rapidly deteriorating conditions across the city and much of central Alberta.

An Environment Canada weather warning says the storm is expected to bring dangerous conditions and strong easterly winds to towns and cities across a large section of central and north-central Alberta.

An intense low pressure system was expected to dump heavy snow from Grande Prairie through St. Albert, Edmonton and Sherwood Park, and surrounding regions east to Lloydminster.

Between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow could fall in these regions by Thursday evening.

The snow began falling in earnest in Edmonton shortly before 6 a.m., said Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Wray.

The snowfall is expected to increase in intensity throughout the day and could last up to eight hours, he said.

"It's a trough that's extending from northeast B.C. right through to southwest Saskatchewan," he said. "It's fairly slow-moving."

Several serious crashes have already occurred in the city, including a collision between a 12-year-old boy and a truck in the area of 156 Street and 96 Avenue that resulted in non-life threatening injuries, and a crash at Anthony Henday & Terwillegar that resulted in the death of a dog riding inside one of the vehicles.

Sanders were deployed to Edmonton streets early Thursday morning, said spokeswoman Laura McNabb.

Plows won't be sent out until after at least three centimetres have accumulated.

By early evening, up to 12 centimetres of snow could fall in the city, with up to 15 centimetres possible for the surrounding regions, Wray said.

Additionally, strong easterly winds are expected to create hazardous driving conditions, as blowing snow reduces visibility.

"Even if the intensity of the snow drops by the time people are on their afternoon commute home, winds will still be quite strong," Wray said. "Blowing snow will be an issue all day."

In the Edmonton area, blowing snow is forecast to reduce visibility to one kilometre, with 40 kilometre-per-hour winds gusting up to 60 km/hr.

The Alberta Motor Association was reporting poor road and highway conditions in the Edmonton area, including Highway 2 from Edmonton south to Leduc, and the Sherwood Park Freeway.

"It's starting to slick up a bit. The snow has a heavy moisture content; it's not a dry snow out there," said spokesman Don Szarko.

"Everything is conspiring to make the roads treacherous."

Motorists could expect to wait slightly longer than an hour for a tow Thursday morning, but that was expected to increase as the day goes on, he said.

The best defence against a potential crash is to drive for the conditions, not the speed limit, he added.

"I think the big thing that people need to understand is they're still driving too fast for the conditions and they're following too close," Szarko said. "Try to leave three to four car lengths in front of you. Driving even at the speed limit today, you're not going to be able to stop."

Operations at the Edmonton International Airport weren't affected by the snowfall, though a non-weather-related power outage did delay travellers to the United States for about an hour Thursday morning, said spokeswoman Traci Bednard.

"We've been able to keep up to it at this point," she said. "If it got to the point where the snow is really heavy and consistent, we may have some visibility issues."

She recommended passengers check their flight status online and give themselves ample time to get to the airport.

Once the band of snow passes through the region, a blast of arctic air will move into the region, dropping temperatures to an overnight low of -21 C. A high of -15 is forecast for Friday, and the mercury is expected to dip even lower over the weekend, with forecast highs of -20 C, Wray said.

"It'll be sunny and cold for the weekend."