Freezing Cold & Lots of Snow

Temperatures have been icy cold today here in Edmonton. When I went to work it was minus 30, with a wind chill of minus 46. And it got worse during the day! I had to shovel my way from the house to my car, thanks to the crazy snow drifts.

This graph shows the temperature here in Edmonton since midnight. Nasty isn’t it?

The Edmonton Journal is reporting that there were 106 crashes causing property damage today. There were only 4 collisions causing injury however, compared with 8 a week ago.

109th Street Outside the office Where I usually park

We weren’t the only ones experiencing the cold today. Calgary hit minus 49 with the wind chill this morning, and indeed most of Alberta experienced similar temperatures. I heard that St. Albert was minus 62 with the wind chill this morning. Even Yellowknife, where my parents live, was colder than normal today with temperatures of around minus 40 and closer to minus 50 with the wind chill.

I’m working from home tomorrow. It took forever to get to work today, and when I did I almost got stuck! My co-workers ended up turning around and going home. I don’t expect conditions will improve much overnight. City officials claim it’ll be more of the same until later this week. For everyone using transit, officials say buses are running up to 30 minutes late, which means prepare for an hour. Express buses are making more stops than normal, however. Garbage collection is also going to be delayed, apparently.

For everyone in the Edmonton area, here are some sites you may want to keep an eye on:

Stay warm and drive safe!

Cold, slippery morning in Edmonton!

I guess the weather here in Edmonton is just getting me ready for what’s coming when I get to Inuvik. It was a very cold minus 24 this morning when I left the house, and the high was apparently only minus 17. In addition to being pretty darn cold, the roads were extremely slippery. I drove to school today (instead of taking the LRT) which meant that I took the Whitemud. Near the 91st street exit, I saw a car going in the same direction as me spin out and hit the barrier. It looked like he was trying to change lanes, but I can’t be sure. Obviously he was going too fast, and he paid the price – the left front side of the car did not look good at all.

So bundle up, and drive for the conditions!