Police in and around Edmonton warned of slippery road conditions Monday afternoon after rain moved through the region earlier in the day.
At around 1:45 p.m., RCMP west of the city issued a news release about the “treacherous road conditions” in the area.
Police said Range Road 35 in the Kapasiwin area had been described as a skating rink and there were reports of a vehicle in the ditch on Highway 43 and Highway 37, near Onoway.
Conditions on Highway 16 and Highway 16A were said to be deteriorating as the rain continued.
“Travel is not recommended, but if necessary, slow down and drive to conditions,” the release said.
Trips and falls also spiked as the weather system moved through the area Monday. As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Alberta Health Services said EMS responded to 73 calls for falls in Edmonton in the past 24 hours, at least 30 of which were related to the weather.
On a typical winter day in Edmonton, AHS said EMS is called to about five weather-related fall calls.
A freezing rain warning was issued Monday morning for areas north and west of Edmonton and was later expanded to include the city.
Watch below: Edmontonians are being warned about slick road conditions after freezing rain moved through the city on Monday afternoon. Phil Darlington has the latest.
Environment Canada said patchy freezing rain started in regions east of Evansburg to Mayerthorpe to Slave Lake, and then moved into the Edmonton region.
“Most of the city will likely only deal with some rain and then flurries,” Global Edmonton meteorologist Jesse Beyer said.
“We’ll be dealing with flurries tonight and another round of mixed precipitation late Tuesday possibly,” he added.
The freezing rain warnings were dropped for all regions by 6 p.m. Monday.
Environment Canada said it issues these kinds of warnings when rain falling in sub-zero temperatures creates ice build-up and icy surfaces.
READ MORE: Heavy snowfall triggers Edmonton’s first parking ban of the season
Officials with the City of Edmonton advised people to exercise caution with roads and sidewalks being at risk of freezing.
“We’re working quickly to address roads and sidewalks before ice forms,” said Andrew Grant, the city’s general supervisor of infrastructure operations.
“We’ll have all available resources out this afternoon and overnight in order to reduce the risk to citizens but as temperatures drop, roads and sidewalks may become slippery.”
Free sand is available at City of Edmonton roadway maintenance yards and over 150 community league halls,
the city said.
There were 91 collisions reported between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m., the Edmonton Police Service said.
Police said four of the crashes resulted in injuries, 73 resulted in property damage and 14 were considered hit-and-run collisions.
One of the best ways to track locally hazardous driving conditions is from local viewer reports. The #yegtraffic hashtag is often used by Twitter users reporting traffic issues within Edmonton.
If safe to do so, share your weather photos with us via the Global Edmonton Facebook and Twitter accounts. You can also post updates from your community using the hashtags#yegwx and #abstorm.
Want your weather on the go? Download Global News’ Skytracker weather app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
–With files from Global News’ Phil Heidenreich
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