A train pulls past the N. Railway station on a frigid Medicine Hat morning.--NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
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The windchill grazed minus-50C in Medicine Hat on Tuesday morning as extreme cold gripped southern Alberta.
That led to nearly deserted streets at dawn, but also lots of calls for tow-truck service.
“We’re pulling our hair out, but should be caught up by the afternoon,” said Willie Langille of Willie’s Towing, who said even newer vehicles had the need for a boost as bitter cold lingered into the day. Extreme chill and icy roads also produced a number of flat tires.
Langille said the fact it is a slower holiday week may have kept the number of calls down as many Hatters could hunker down rather than run out to work.
“We’ve had lots of cold weather, and it’s been bad, but not absolutely crazy,” he said.
“What else can you expect when it’s this cold?”
Medicine Hat experienced its lowest temperature at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, with mercury dropping to-37.2C at the airport weather station. With the wind, that felt like minus-49C.
That far eclipsed the recent actual temperature low of minus-25C, posted in 2017, according to Environment Canada.
Temperatures like Tuesday’s hadn’t been seen since last February, when a polar vortex sat over Alberta to end winter’s worst period.
In the region this week, Maple Creek dropped below minus-40C at 9 a.m. in calm conditions, and Cypress Hill Provincial park townsite in Saskatchewan saw minus-38C in the early morning.
Havre, Mont. reported wind chill of minus-49F (minus-45C) at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Daytime highs are forecast in the mid minus-20s for the remainder of the week, while a mild warm-up is expected on the weekend, including a high of -7C on New Year’s Day, Saturday.
Power strain
Heavy power use across Alberta throughout Monday caused the Alberta Electrical System Operator to issue a statement asking customers to conserve electricity. Demand through the previous evening caused prices to surge to $1,000 per megawatt from 5 p.m. onward.
Power demand peaked at 11,500 megawatts at 6 p.m. to sit about 2 per cent below all-time winter record demand.
That alert expired at 1 a.m. though power pricing remained elevated overnight and into Tuesday.
