The late blast of winter caused traffic mayhem on Highway 2 near Red Deer on Wednesday morning.
Two semi trailers were jacknifed within a kilometre or so of each other around 9:30 am. Both trucks had slid into the median and were turned completely around, facing north in the southbound lanes.
In the same area, a pickup pulling a goose-neck trailer had also jackknifed and another semi truck had slid off the west side of the highway and was being pulled out by another rig.
The series of collisions brought traffic to a slow crawl for a number of kilometres south of Red Deer.
Around 9:30 a.m., 511 Alberta warned drivers about one of the jackknifed semis near Red Deer and recommended drivers postpone their trips or use a different route.
A 10 a.m. 511 posting warning of a jackknifed semi in the northbound lanes north of Blackfalds offered similar advice.
A single-vehicle collision on Highway 2 near Antler Hill that saw a driver hit the safety cables was reported about 7:40 a.m. Around 8:30 a.m., Highway 2 at Township Road 360 just north of Innisfail was closed due to a jackknifed semi. All lanes were re-opened by 10:30 a.m.
By the end of the day, RCMP said 52 collisions had been reported on Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary and others were reported elsewhere in the province.
An Environment Canada snowfall warning was lifted for the Red Deer area on Wednesday afterooon. Light snow was expected on Thursday with a 60 per cent chance of flurries on Friday.
