A day after Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for weather systems expected to pass through central Alberta; a snowfall warning was issued for many of the same regions – and the snowfall caused major problems for drivers throughout the day.
On Friday morning, a snowfall warning was issued for Edmonton and regions surrounding it.
Officials said an area of heavy snow developed over central Alberta Friday morning, and went further west than it was originally expected to.
It’s expected accumulated snowfall will be about 10 centimetres, with some areas likely to receive 15 centimetres.
Drivers are asked to adjust driving to the changing road conditions, and quickly accumulating snow could make driving difficult, and visibility could be reduced because of the heavy snow.
Edmonton police and RCMP advised drivers to be cautious, and slow down when driving in the heavy snow.
EPS said between 5 and 11 a.m., there was one injury collision, and four property damage collisions in the Edmonton area.
Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, there were nine hit and run crashes, six injury collisions and 142 property damage collisions. Police reminded drivers to clear all snow and ice from vehicles and to allow extra time Friday evening, and throughout the weekend.
In addition, winter storm warnings were issued for areas south and east of the regions affected by the snowfall warning.
In those areas, snow, freezing rain and ice pellets were forecast to come with a low pressure system passing through the area – between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow was also expected to fall, but heavy snowfall was expected to move out of the area by early Friday evening.
Almost all of the snowfall warnings and winter storm warnings were lifted by Friday evening.
