Snow shovellers got a workout this week after a snowstorm dropped a month's worth of weather on St. Albert in one weekend.
About 25 to 35 centimetres of snow smothered the Edmonton and Sturgeon County region during a snowstorm this weekend, according to Environment Canada, one that started Friday and didn't let up until Sunday afternoon.
That's about the amount of snow we usually get for the entire month, says Dan Kulak, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada in Edmonton. The average for January in Edmonton is 25 centimetres; the one-day record is 29. "It was nearly a record for January."
The snow made for "terrible" road conditions, says Cpl. Laurel Kading of the St. Albert RCMP, with some 14 accidents reported in the city from Saturday to Monday, a typical amount, she adds. "We had a busy weekend."
It also made for brisk sales Friday at the St. Albert Canadian Tire, says general manager Mike Pascuzzo — they emptied their stock of snowblowers by Saturday, and sold some 200 snow shovels by Sunday. They started the weekend with 20 feet of space filled with shovels, he notes. "Sixteen of that is completely empty."
Customers have also emptied five of their six shovel bins, and bought plenty of organic ice melt.
And it kept city plow crews busy, says Darrell Symbaluk, St. Albert's municipal operations supervisor. "We've had a lot of drifting in the north end and on the rural roads," he says. "We've had to keep a piece working almost constantly out there."
Plows and Bobcats focused their efforts on the city's main and collector roadways, Symbaluk says, with the occasional break to clear paths for ambulances. "Our mandate is to keep the traffic moving," he says, and that's meant leaving sizeable windrows in front of some driveways. Crews will clear those piles as soon as possible.
Staff finished clearing residential streets earlier this month, he says, and might have to do them again before winter is over. "We're a ways from being out of the woods."
We've had worse, says expert
Last weekend's snows slammed pretty much the whole province, according to Alberta Agriculture soil moisture specialist Ralph Wright. "North of Red Deer was kind of where the line was," he says — everyone south of there got about 10 centimetres of snow, while everyone north got more.
Whitecourt probably got the most snow in central Alberta, Wright continues, collecting some 45 centimetres from Jan. 6 to 10. Parts of Wetaskiwin County reported up to 40.
But most of the region is still below normal when it comes to winter snowpack and moisture reserves, Wright says. "This amount of snow is a little unusual, but not too unusual."
Edmonton gets more snow than this once every three years, for example, as does Westlock once every six.
Icy roads and frigid temperatures will make driving dangerous this week, Kading says. "If you don't have to go out, stay home."
Keep your car parked off the street so the plows can clear the road, she adds.
Seniors should take it easy when shovelling this large amount of snow, says Leslie MacEachern of the St. Albert Senior Citizens' Club, and should ask their neighbours for help. The club also has a list of volunteer shovellers who can help residents in need.
Pascuzzo says he was glad to see residents teaming up to shovel snow. "Sometimes snowstorms bring neighbourhoods closer together."
