Snow hinders morning commute in and around Calgary

Recent snowfall made for a slow commute on Calgary roads on Monday/

The Calgary Police Service confirms 11 crashes were reported between midnight and 8 a.m., including two involving injuries and four hit-and-runs.

With as much as 12 centimetres of snow forecast to fall by Monday evening, city officials say the traffic snarls were related to the timing and intensity of the storm.

"It's really going to depend on how fast that snow falls just what conditions are in the morning," says Tara Norton-Merrin with City of Calgary Roads department

"If it snows just a little bit over each hour and the crews can keep up with it those routes should be okay."

With Calgary dipping to -15 C Sunday night, water main issues were once again popping up.

According to the City of Calgary's website, six water main breaks were reported over the weekend and, as of early Monday morning, five of those remain an issue.

The breaks serve as a reminder to everyone to keep the windows of their homes are fully closed, ensure the temperature is kept at least around 15 C, and check for any possible drafts.

One of those water main break was in the southwest community of Glenbrook.

That's where Curtis Beagle lives with his wife and two young daughters.

He says they didn't have water for 48 hours – but that it felt even longer.

"I was taking a bucket out to that water truck quite often," he says.

"I filled up about six or seven jugs – it was just a lot of work, with the girls needing to use the bathroom and also having to wash dishes. That was slow."

Meanwhile, the city says as long as the temperature stays low, it will focus on laying pickle mix on the roads to give drivers more traction when they hit the ice.

The city continues to focus on major roads, such as Crowchild and Glenmore Trails, hoping to minimize traffic delays.

The city also says it's still well within its annual snow clearing budget.

So far – it has allotted $51.4 million per calendar year for the job and so far has gone through a little more than half that since the beginning of January.

Calgarians can expect temperatures as low as -30 with consideration for the wind chill from Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, strong winds and falling snow lead to closures and pileups on some Alberta roadways, with widespread black ice along the TransCanada Highway to both the east and west of Calgary on Saturday.

Highway 1 was closed Saturday evening near Bassano, and there was a pileup near Red Deer and backups due to crashes near Olds.

The advice is the same every year, but it bears repeating. Slow down, leave lots of space, allow lots of extra time to arrive and be considerate of other drivers who may not be as confident or drive a smaller vehicle.

- With files from Chris Epp