Calgary is cleaning up after Tuesday's unseasonably harsh taste of winter. The early fall snowstorm broke two of the city's weather records. Environment Canada said the 32.8 centimetres of snow that fell in Calgary on Tuesday shattered the Oct. 2 snowfall record of 4.6 centimetres set in 1954. The snow also broke the one-day record for snowfall in October, which was 30 centimetres, set in 1914. But Calgary got off comparatively light as both Kananaskis and the hamlet of Bragg Creek west of Calgary saw 60 centimetres fall as of 7 p.m. MT, while the hamlet of Exshaw had 48 centimetres of snow as of 9 p.m., according to Environment Canada. Meanwhile in #Chestermere they are #waterskiing. #YYC pic.twitter.com/NLOxUsdwmT —@iceTyyc But with sunny skies in Calgary and temperatures expected to rise as high as 4 C Wednesday, the head of the city's Emergency Operations Centre said they will be shifting some of their responsibilities back to the roads and transit departments for the remainder of the cleanup. "[The weather] has us actually moving a little bit from snow operations, to planning for that thaw that will come," said Tom Sampson in an update Wednesday morning. The city called for help from surrounding communities — trucks and crews came in from Edmonton, Red Deer, Okotoks and Medicine Hat — which made for a much smoother commute for drivers. In a release Wednesday morning, the city said 59 sanders and 22 graders with crews were on the roads preparing for the morning commute, and 40 pieces of equipment from "municipal partners" were added to help. Troy McLeod, the director of roads, said crews finished clearing the major routes, known as Priority 1 routes to the city, and had already moved on to Priority 2s. A 72-hour snow route parking ban went into effect at 10 a.m. to help with those efforts, which McLeod said has a good possibility of ending early. He said they hope to get to Priority 3 and 4 routes in the next few days. I was feeling hungry so it had to be done. #abstorm dessert 🎂😂🌨*WARNING* I do not condone this outrageous #YYCSnow behaviour 🙄 #yyc #calgary pic.twitter.com/vN8KtI0pij —@CstSmith The clearer roads made a big difference when it came to driver safety in Calgary. Acting Sgt. Quentin Blindenbach with the Calgary Police Service said of the nearly 350 crashes reported during the snowfall, three-quarters of the calls came Tuesday morning. Tuesday was also a hectic day for Calgary Transit drivers and commuters, as about 80 buses get stuck in snowbanks around the city and many had trouble navigating slippery hills. Doug Morgan, director of the transit department said things were Wednesday were better and running more in-line with typical winter days. "Today is a much better day," Morgan said. "I would call today a challenging day, but very conventional when it comes to winter operations." Calgary dad Ryan Sauvé set up a makeshift hot tub on his deck for his kids by filling a kiddie pool with hot water from the kitchen sink. ( Ryan Sauvé) Most of the bus route detours put in place during the storm have now been cancelled. Only routes 1, 6, 17, 26, 76, 113 and 299 are still being re-routed. Morgan said the C-Train was running with no delays. Highways across the province that were shut down Tuesday because of road conditions and crashes have all reopened. In some areas, cars were parked for hours on impassable highways. Alberta 511 is still warning of delays due to the volume of traffic trying to get through the re-opened routes.<doc-sep>Share this Story: Calgary thanks neighbouring cities for pitching in after record-breaking snowfall Calgary thanks neighbouring cities for pitching in after record-breaking snowfall Photo by Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Article content As crews from Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat and Okotoks made their way across Calgary on Wednesday, city officials praised their neighbours for coming to their aid to help clear the roads after a record-breaking autumn snowfall the day before. Calgary Emergency Management Agency chief Tom Sampson said the move on the city’s part to call in help from its neighbours was a rarity when it comes to snow clearing. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Calgary thanks neighbouring cities for pitching in after record-breaking snowfall Back to video “We’re now looking at these things and saying, when we have these large events, is there another way to handle it? Can we bring folks in to assist us?” Sampson said. “We know Calgary goes out and does that, so when are the times that we can call assistance in?” Calgary received close to 40 cm of snow since late Monday, resulting in slushy, snow-covered and icy roads, sidewalks and pathways. October normally sees 10 cm of snowfall throughout the entire month, according to roads director Troy McLeod. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content With 32.8 cm falling on Tuesday alone, it was Calgary’s snowiest day since 1981. The storm also set a mark for the most snow Calgary has seen on Oct. 2 in recorded history. A snow route parking ban went into effect Wednesday at 10 a.m. The ban requires vehicles to be moved off snow routes until the ban is lifted, even if a road has been plowed. Designated snow routes are marked by blue signs with a white snowflake. The fine for violating the ban is $75. However, this falls to $40 if the ticket is paid within 10 days. It costs $50 if the ticket is paid within 30 days. While bans can last up to 72 hours, McLeod said he expected it to wrap up sooner, thanks to favourable temperatures and the help Calgary received from other cities. “The intensity of this storm, the way it hit us, it was a very intense, short duration snowfall that occurred just before our rush hour and so that made the large difference,” said Sampson. “We’ll do a post-event analysis of this and say, ‘was this worthwhile, did it work well for us, is it a new operating methodology when we’re hit badly?’ ” Sampson said the City of Calgary would foot the bill for the outside help, but he couldn’t say how much it would cost. Rather than showing that the city lacks the resources to deal with such a big snowfall, he said it actually demonstrates financial prudence on behalf of the city. The City of Edmonton said 30 plows and 60 crew members were sent to Calgary. Another 10 pieces of snow removal equipment were brought in from Red Deer, Okotoks and Medicine Hat, bolstering the city’s 59 sanders and 22 graders clearing major roadways after the storm. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Photo by Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Calgary police recorded 189 collisions between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, including 16 involving injuries. One person was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition following a collision on Stoney Trail near 88th Street S.E. just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Heavy snow and ice also created havoc on roads outside the city on Tuesday. Between 20 and 30 vehicles were involved in a fatal collision on the QEII Highway near the Carstairs overpass, and a 45-year-old Airdrie man died following a two-vehicle collision on Highway 567. On Wednesday, crews and a total of about 120 pieces of equipment were focused on clearing main roads and bus routes. City crews were also clearing snow from public sidewalks, pathways and cycling infrastructure. I was just advised by our Roads crews that we have plowed all Priority 1 routes and already done 15% of Priority 2’s. Great to have some help from our friends! #yyc @CityofEdmonton @CityofRedDeer @medicinehatcity @townofokotoks — Tom Sampson (@iceTyyc) October 3, 2018 Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Officials said meltwater could freeze overnight and cautioned pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to be careful Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Sampson said the city’s emergency operations plan would take a step back following a successful response. He added that although plow trucks adorned with orange Edmonton Oilers flags were around town, Calgarians had no reason to fear. “We’re tagging their units with Flames stickers right now,” he said with a wink. “It’s a routine thing that we do.” — With files from Yolande Cole and the Canadian Press Temperatures Today’s High 4 C Today’s Low -3 C Average High 15 C Average Low 1.2 C Historic High 29.4 C in 1913 Historic Low -11.7 C in 1900 Tomorrow’s High 2 C Tomorrow’s Low -4 C Weather alerts? The snowfall warning for Calgary has ended. You can check all Alberta weather alerts here. You can also check Canada-wide weather alerts here. 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Please try again Trending<doc-sep>City officials made headway cleaning up Wednesday after a historic snowstorm in southwestern Alberta brought traffic to a standstill and left dozens of motorists stranded in their vehicles for hours. In what turned out to be Calgary’s snowiest October day in 104 years, southwest Alberta was hit with as much as 40 centimetres of snow on Tuesday, causing a mess on the roads that continued through the night. John Archer, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, called the conditions “severe” after the QE2 Highway was temporarily shut down following a fatal collision involving as many as 30 vehicles in Carstairs, Alta. Tuesday. There were several other minor collisions were also reported on Tuesday. Travelers on Highway 1 were stranded on the roadway for more than 13 hours because of poor weather conditions. By Wednesday afternoon, both the westbound and eastbound lanes for Highway 1, near Canmore, Alta., had reopened. To help with snow clearing, 60 plow operators from Edmonton made the trip south and are expected to remain in Calgary until Wednesday evening. Chief Tom Sampson of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency said that measures like that don’t happen often but he was pleased with the comraderie. “Couldn’t be a prouder day to be a city employee, the way people worked through the night to ensure that we’re ensuring better service today,” he said in a news conferenceWednesday. Sampson added that it was “remarkable” to see how residents were lending help to neighbours.“Calgarians have been helping Calgarians dig out. It’s been remarkable. From homeowners to businesses—they’ve been doing great work,” he said. Sampson asked residents to make sure they weren’t shoveling snow onto the street and to clearsnow from furnaces and storm drains. Doug Morgan, a spokesperson with Calgary Transit, was proud of theturnaround from Tuesday as buses were getting around and not getting stuck by Wednesday afternoon. “Yesterday was a challenge, so we’re always looking for places to improve … and reviewing our response to this unusual weather event.” Troy McLeod, the city’s director of roads, reminded residents to keep their cars off the street because of a 72-hour parking ban. “We’ve had a record snowfall event … with some areas getting 45 centimetres. When in October, we normally receive 10 cm in an entire month,” he said. Southwestern Alberta is no longer under a snowfall warning as the storm appears to have shifted east, where another four centimetres of snow is expected by Wednesday night. With files from CTV Calgary, CTV Edmonton and The Canadian Press<doc-sep>
CALGARY — The morning commute proved difficult in Calgary after a record dump of wet, heavy snow covered city streets and sidewalks — prompting the city to call in reinforcements from neighbouring areas. A snowfall warning is in effect for the city of Calgary as parts of the city reported up to 40 centimetres in a 12-hour period. Environment Canada is forecasting another five to 10 cm of snow to fall throughout this evening, tapering off toward Wednesday. Visibility is expected to be a challenge overnight and through the morning hours. Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Kulak said Tuesday marks a record-breaking snowfall on the single calendar day of Oct. 2. “For Oct. 2, the record for one day snowfall, is only 4.6 cm in 1954 so we’ve already beat that one,” Kulak said. Kulak said the record breaking snow fall in one day in all of October was about 29.7 centimetres in 1914. He said between 6 p.m. and midnight the Calgary airport saw about four centimetres. From midnight to six a.m. there was another 14 centimetres and from six a.m. to 11 a.m. there was another seven centimetres. “Snowfalls in October are not unusual. Some of the biggest snowfalls that Calgary sees are in the shoulder seasons — October, November and March, April,” Kulak said. The City of Calgary has also issued a snow route parking ban, which will take effect Wednesday at 10 a.m. Vehicles parked on snow routes must be moved off of the street prior to the ban going in place. Failure to do so may result in a ticket or tow. “We are continuing to work hard through this thing. The good news, we don’t think there is significant damage to the tree canopy. We’re not seeing ‘snowtember’ again,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said, referencing the September 2014 snowfall that impacted Calgary’s urban forest. “The number of 911 calls have been really low and the amount of Emergency Medical Services is out of code red status as of two o’clock this afternoon.” Tom Sampson, Calgary Emergency Management Agency chief, said the primary problem with this snowfall was accumulated in the early hours of the morning. Officials say city crews worked all night and into the morning to clear roads, but progress has been slow due to the rapid accumulation of snow. “There’s a lot of work to be done, and we’re going to need some help to get it done,” Sampson said. “Today, we asked for our friends to help us. We have resources on the road very soon coming from Edmonton, Red Deer, Okotoks, even as far as Medicine Hat. They’ll be bringing in plows and sanders into the city later today.” Bill Biensch, road maintenance manager, said the city’s snow response typically starts on Oct. 15, but 85 per cent of the city’s contractors responded to the city’s call to help deal with the snow. There were 18 graters and 43 trucks out sanding the roads on Tuesday afternoon. Calgary Transit reported Tuesday morning buses that travel on hills were having trouble navigating roads. Doug Morgan, Calgary’s director of transit, said it was a “bad day” for delays and stuck buses. More than 80 buses got stuck in Calgary during the morning commute. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... “We were challenged,” Morgan said. “We are working hard to recover any buses that are stuck currently. We did have about 50 stuck during the rush hour.” The Calgary Police Service is reporting a total of 251 injury and non-injury collisions from 11 p.m. Monday to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. On this day in 2017, a total of 131 collisions were reported. As much as 45 centimetres of snow was forecast for the mountains west of the city. “Heavy snow has developed over parts of the Rockies and foothills. Intense bands of snow are producing visibilities of less than one kilometre,” the snowfall warning said. “Heavy wet snow may cause some trees to bend or break. Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions. ... Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.” A video posted on social media Tuesday showed a cross-country skier gliding along a downtown Calgary sidewalk. Photos released by the Calgary Zoo showed its pandas, who arrived at the zoo in May, frolicking in the frosty flakes. Callers to a local radio station voiced concerns about road conditions. “It’s terrible. Absolutely nothing has been plowed,” one man who called himself Trucker Dave told CFFR.