Residents of Banff, Alta., were busy cleaning up Monday morning after strong wind gusts overnight toppled a large number of trees overnight, some falling on houses and blocking roads.
While no injuries have been reported, Banff fire Chief Keri Martens warned residents to be on the lookout for trees in danger of toppling over.
“In windy conditions like this, you just really have to be aware of your surroundings and strange noises, pay attention to trees rubbing on other trees, and just be cautious,” said Martens.
On Monday morning Environment Canada issued wind warnings for a large area of southern Alberta stretching from the Foothills to just east of Calgary and from Olds south to the Montana border.
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In Calgary, Environment Canada warned of strong wind gusts, up to 90 km/h could cause flying debris, local power outages and make for difficult driving conditions for trucks and other high-sided vehicles.
Further south, in the Lethbridge area, meteorologists warned the wind gusts could hit 115 km/h.
In Edmonton, wind gusts of up to 50 km/h are in the forecast for Monday, though this is not strong enough for Environment Canada to issue any warnings.
The breezy conditions are also being accompanied by unseasonably warm temperatures in many areas, with the temperature in Lethbridge forecast to hit 17 C on Monday. Calgary is forecast to hit 14 C, and the mercury in Edmonton could top 10 C.
The winds are forecast to start tapering off Monday afternoon but the unseasonably warm temperatures are forecast to last for much of the week in much of southern Alberta.
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