Multiple crashes on Calgary roads as weather takes a turn

News -

Upward of five centimetres of snow fell in Calgary early Friday morning and officials said at that time that conditions were good, but the situation deteriorated later on Friday, leading to plenty of crashes and road closures.

Calgary police told CTV News that between midnight and 8:30 a.m., they were called to 24 crashes (five that involved injuries and 19 that did not) as well as four hit-and-runs. Between 8:30 and noon, those statistics jumped to 63 crashes, which included five injury-related incidents.

One of those incidents caused a major back-up on Calgary's ring road, police say.

It's not known if there are any injuries involved in that crash, but the city and pollice say the scene was cleared at just after 1 p.m.

By the next update from police, the total number of crashes had climbed to more than 100.

The City of Calgary was working to keep up with the white stuff coming down.

"Our crews have been out responding since it started last night. They've done a great job. With the breaks in the snow, it's been nice. We've been able to get into some of the secondary routes as well as taking care of the major routes," said Chris Hewitt, manager of mobility maintenance for the city.

In the meantime, conditions outside the city of Calgary weren't much better.

RCMP attended the scene of a serious crash on the QEII Highway near the Carstairs exit.

Multiple vehicles - up to 30 - were involved in that incident, which brought the highway to a halt for hours. One person was injured.

City streets and highways surrounding Calgary continued to be treacherous in many spots Friday night.

The QEII north of Calgary closed again.

Airdrie RCMP and other emergency crews responded to the QEII at Township Road 285 near Crossfield just before 7 p.m.

The northbound lanes were blocked off because of a multi-vehicle collision.

RCMP said a semi truck jackknifed and five other vehicles were involved, but no serious injuries were reported.

511 Alberta said that stretch of highway remained covered with snow in some sections, with blowing snow, ice and slush.

Visibility was described as "fair."