Warmer winds bring white-out conditions

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on December 24, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

High winds that brought warmer weather to southeast Alberta on Friday also caused whiteout conditions at times and warnings for highway travellers.

Much of the week was spent under an extreme cold warning, but chinook winds saw double-digit change in the temperature on Friday morning.

After hovering near -30C for days, the predicted high in the Hat on Christmas Day is just above the freezing mark.

The dramatic shift began as gusts of up to 40 kilometres per hour picked up accumulated snow.

The thermometer had dropped to a low of minus-36.7C at 1 a.m. in mostly calm conditions, but as wind arrived before noon the temperature rose 15 degrees over two hours.

At about the same time however, RCMP in Raymond issued a warning advising against highway travel, with worsening driving conditions spreading eastward.

Redcliff RCMP advised that a two-car collision near Walsh was slowing traffic at the noon-hour while conditions deteriorated throughout the region.

Medicine Hat police, which had issued advisories against travel due to cold temperatures, and a large number of stalls and skid-outs on icy roads on Wednesday, said Friday that drivers should exercise caution.

The Trans-Canada and highways around Calgary and Medicine Hat were reported as dry and bare, but with strong winds and limited visibility.

The Saskatchewan Highway Hotline reported winter driving conditions throughout the southwest and poor viability from the Alberta boundary east to Swift Current.

Holiday travel was expected to be heavy on the Christmas weekend, though calmer wind was also predicted over the weekend.

The recent record temperatures for Dec. 25 in Medicine Hat were set in 2005 (a high of 16C) and 2012 (a low of -30C).

Wind gusts on the mid-40-kilometre-per-hour range caused isolated problems for power companies in the region. On the Fortis system, only two blocks of about half a dozen rural customers, including some east of Jenner, were disconnected for short periods in the mid afternoon.

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