Central Alberta’s first snowfall for the winter season resulted in numerous drivers crashing on slippery roads on Friday.
Once the snow started falling at around 9 p.m. on Thursday, emergency personnel were kept hopping through the night and through part of the day.
Red Deer roads were poor and conditions and area highways were troublesome as well. Drivers reported particularly poor conditions between Ponoka and Bowden, with several vehicles ending up in the ditch.
Police warned drivers to use extreme caution when travelling and to slow down, particularly when RCMP or emergency services personnel are stopped on the road.
RCMP spokesman Const. Chris Kosack said the number of collisions escalated after midnight. Until about 3 p.m. on Friday, a total of 28 collisions reported to police.
“It would be safe to say that you’d have another 50 per cent that wouldn’t have been reported yet to police,” Kosack said. “Either they were single vehicles or they just maybe went up on the median or boulevard.”
On Thursday, a typical day, there were only three collisions reported to police.
Kosack said the key thing for drivers to remember is to have enough space to brake.
“If you slam your brakes, that’s when you start sliding and things start happening,” he said.
By mid-afternoon Friday, the sun emerged. Weather conditions are expected to be sunny, with temperatures around 0C, over the next week.
The first snowfall came later in 2010 — Nov. 16 to be exact.
Development Services director Paul Goranson said the city road conditions were “pretty bad” on Friday because the snow melted, then froze and then more snow covered the roads.
City of Red Deer public works personnel were keeping track of the weather forecasts and around 3 a.m. one employee was out sanding. Others were called in.
“The focus is on the hills and the bridges, which typically freeze up first, and the high traffic volume areas,” said Goranson. “We have eight sanding trucks and I understand they were all out at some point (Friday) morning.”
Staff will begin providing around-the-clock coverage starting on Sunday to provide quicker response than having people on call as is done during the warmer months, Goranson added.
Elsewhere, the first skiff of snow to stay on the ground caused a surge of business for tire shops and towing companies.
At the OK Tire store on Red Deer’s south side, an employee said he was too busy to talk on the phone.
“We’re absolutely swamped,” he said.
Red Deer’s Key Towing reported a hectic day as well. Over a 12-hour period starting at midnight, the company did 45 tows in the Red Deer area mainly due to collisions.
And at Red Deer’s Canyon Ski Resort, the snow-making guns were turned on at full force on Thursday night.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com