Dozens of crashes on Calgary roads as bitter cold kicks off February

Severe winter weather Monday creating slippery driving conditions on Calgary’s main roads, leading to a surge in collisions.

Cold and slippery conditions across Calgary during the latest winter wave have left roads in less-than-ideal-condition, with dozens of crashes reported over the first few days of February.

The Calgary Police Service says from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday there were 274 crashes on city roads. Of those, 33 involved injuries, 33 were classified as hit-and-runs, and 208 didn’t result in any injuries.

On Monday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the city saw more than 130 collisions, including 16 involving injuries and 22 hit-and-runs.

Winter returned to Calgary with a vengeance starting Friday, when many commuters woke up to freezing fog and sub-zero temperatures.

It only went downhill from there, as Saturday saw snow and a temperature of around -24 C that felt closed to -35 C with the wind chill.

Sunday was also bitterly cold, as temperatures felt in the mid-minus 30s with the wind chill.

These conditions wreaked havoc on area roads over the weekend — including on Highway 2 where near white-out conditions were reported.

The cold continued into Monday and is expected to stay around until Tuesday, which could be the start of a gradual warm up.

However, it could be some time before Calgary sees the mercury hit the low teens like it did in mid-to-late January.

Alberta’s own groundhog, Balzac Billy, predicted an early spring on Sunday, though the man-sized groundhog’s prediction rate is currently at 42 per cent, according to stats from The Weather Network.

For the latest in weather, and its impact on the roads, listen to 660 NewsRadio for updates every 10 minutes on the ones.

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