Schools closed, drivers struggle as southern Alberta is slammed by snow

A winter storm that began Friday, finally ended Monday, leaving much of southern Alberta covered in snow.

Waterton Lakes National Park was hit the hardest, receiving a whopping 120 cm of snow by 1 p.m.

Lethbridge got dumped with 45 cm, resulting in some school closures.

The school closure was a relief for high school teacher Kendell Wiens, who just started teaching last week.

“I can get some of those behind-the-scenes things done,” he said. “So then I can be more prepared for when the students are actually here.”

“This year is getting crazy,” Lethbridge resident Prakass Timsinn said.

“It’s everywhere, it’s sluggish, it’s hard to get around town,” Robert Furlotte, a Pincher Creek resident, said.

Slick road conditions were a big part of why some schools closed. A map on the Alberta Motor Association’s website was showing most area highways with snow-covered lanes and poor visibility. Portions of the highway were closed between Alberta and B.C.

Here is a summary of the storm’s snowfall accumulations in centimetres from Environment Canada:

Waterton Gate: 120

Coleman: 90

Blairmore: 50-60

Lethbridge: 45

Pincher Creek: 40

Kananaskis: 37

Stirling: 30

Medicine Hat: 22

Brooks: 21

Calgary: 15-26

Milk River: 15-20

Drumheller: 15-20

Lake Louise: 10-16

Coronation: 7-10

Canmore: 5-10

Stavely: 5-10