Edmontonians are paying for a balmy November with a December blast of winter. And it's going from bad to worse with a forecast calling for a deep freeze starting tonight.
Slick roads caught commuters and city crews by surprise yesterday, making for treacherous conditions as drivers had to cope with as much as 15 cm of snow and high winds while plows and graders struggled to keep up.
Area highways were also in rough shape with the Alberta Motor Association advising of poor winter driving conditions around the Edmonton area, particularly in the north-south corridor between Edmonton and Calgary.
"If you don't have to travel from Point A to Point B, just stay home," said Terry Clovechok, AMA's road reports co-ordinator, noting those travelling this weekend should be prepared with winter tires, blankets and candles.
Bob Dunford, the city's director of roadway maintenance, said the heavy snow hit later in the morning than hoped for and, despite an armada of 83 trucks sanding and plowing, by rush hour traffic had to contend with poor conditions and slow commutes.
"We're running pretty much a full complement and we'll keep it up right through (Friday night) and look at it again in the morning," he said yesterday.
"We're working at it."
Despite the efforts of road crews, Edmontonians weathered a difficult day of collisions, stuck vehicles and crawling commutes.
While police spokespeople weren't available to provide the number of collisions yesterday afternoon, CTV reported that between 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., there were 42 crashes and five that caused injury.
Scott Roy, a dispatcher with towing company Auto Rescue, said by the evening rush there had been at least 50 calls for service with customers waiting between 45 minutes to one hour.
Meanwhile, poor conditions resulted in at least 10 flight cancellations and dozens of flight delays at the Edmonton International Airport yesterday.
Spokeswoman Traci Bednard said that could mean some crowded flights today.
"As these flights get cancelled the airlines have to move passengers to other flights so some will be very busy," she said.
"So if you have to book a flight, book it right away."
Jackie-Rae Greening, chair of the 2009 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, said some curling teams experienced delays flying and driving into the city. But all 16 teams arrived safe and sound yesterday evening with the last team checking into their hotel at close to 5 p.m.
"Everybody is in and we're A-OK," Greening said. "There was definitely some slow going -- it took two hours just getting from the airport to the hotel -- but so far, so good."
The eight-day event at Rexall Place starts with opening ceremonies at 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Dan Kulak, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said by today the heaviest of the white stuff will have passed. But people can expect an incoming cold front that will see the city become a deep freeze.
"After today, the other shoe drops and we get into the windchill -- it's the beginning of winter," he said.
Kulak noted November was the 14th warmest in records dating back to the 1880s, averaging temperatures of around 1.3 degrees C.
Starting tomorrow, Kulak said Edmontonians can look forward to daytime highs in the -20 degree range for what could be the entire week.
