A significant snowfall is expected in parts of the province over the next 24 hours and the city says it is ready for whatever is on the way.
A number of watches and warnings were issued for Alberta by Environment Canada on Wednesday morning and a major front from the Pacific will bring heavy snowfall overnight in some areas.
The Kananaskis, Canmore and Banff areas could see accumulations between 30 and 50 cm by the time the snowfall ends late on Saturday.
The central and northern parts of the province will bear the brunt of the storm as the system moves north.
In Calgary, the snow is expected to arrive on Wednesday afternoon and bring about 2 to 5 cm.
The temperatures will also take a big drop over the next few days and combined with the snowfall could make driving a little tricky in and around the city.
The city says it is monitoring the situation and crews are ready to respond.
“Right now our crews are out preparing for the snow that we’re going to see by putting down an anti-icing agent on some trouble spots so those usually include areas like hills or bridge decks or ramps. They tend to get a little slippery so,” said Jessica Bell with the City Roads Department.
Bell says they are fully staffed to take on the storm.
“All of our available equipment is manned so we’re kind of just waiting for the snow to hit but we’re pretty much as ready as we can be at this point,” she said.
Earlier this month, the city rolled out its snow and ice control plan and announced that on-demand contractors would be part of the mix this year if required.
“The preparations are definitely underway and we feel pretty confident that we’re going to be able to manage this storm and we’ll just have to see what’s happening once it starts to determine whether or not we’ll need to call in some overtime crews or contracted crews or anything like that,” said Bell.
The city will continue to use the Seven-Day Plan for snow removal.
For more information on the City’s Snow and Ice Control program click HERE.
