Alberta Weather -- (almost) real-time radar imagery!

[Tom]

Speaking of weather, the Anthony Henday has been closed :-x And half of the QE2 is closed.

I just heard that too -- UNHEARD OF! (anyone know which particular stretch of 216 is shut down? and how, the logistics... how...)

if 216 == the henday. THE ENTIRE THING. It's closed.

There was a massive pileup on the QE2 earlier today

Yeah, massive. They basically took all of the ETS highway busses, and then pulled in more city busses with police escorts (because apparently, they arent licensed for highway driving). over 300 people had to be taken to hospital.

[Darren Dirt]

Speaking of weather, the Anthony Henday has been closed

I just heard that too -- UNHEARD OF! (anyone know which particular stretch of 216 is shut down? and how, the logistics... how...)

if 216 == the henday. THE ENTIRE THING. It's closed.

yeah. And since these news stories make no mention of which stretch is closed, I guess that means all of it.

But ouch how do you block off all the exit ramps in a short period of time? Logistics nightmare. Which is why I thought maybe only part of it was closed.

http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/henday-closed-due-to-poor-winter-driving-conditions-1.1204909

At about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Edmonton Police said Anthony Henday Drive had been shut down.
The shutdown came as a result of near white-out conditions along with poor road conditions - EPS said between 6 a.m. and about 4 p.m. Thursday, about 125 crashes had been reported, most of them only caused property damage but nine resulted in injuries and another nine were hit and runs.

Offcers had also been called to help with the massive multi-vehicle crash on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway.

More than 100 vehicles were involved in a massive crash on the highway just south of Leduc. In that case, more than 100 people were injured ? and police and emergency crews from a number of surrounding areas were called in to help.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Near+whiteout+visibility+will+close+Henday+several+hours/8133696/story.html

EDMONTON - With near whiteout visibility and poor road conditions, Anthony Henday Drive is being shut down until conditions improve.

The closure on the 70-kilometre ring road started at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday and is expected to last for several hours.


Lorie Clements
first day of spring in YEG...right lol.

[Tom]

I'm assuming a lot of it is them saying its closed, which would get a lot of people to pick a different route. then they get a bunch of on and off duty officers to sit in a car in the main on ramps and close some intersections. The nice thing about a somewhat decently designed freeway is there's only so many ways onto it. It's not supposed to be interrupted too much.

[Thorin]

Roads were kinda bad today, had to pick up a pair of ringette pants last second from a family that forgot to return them, then I got stuck in the crescent they live in.  Luckily my oldest son was with me and between the two of us we pushed the ol' Volvo out in about 30 seconds.  Nearly-bald tires on a rear wheel drive Volvo station wagon weighed down with hockey and ringette gear.  FUN!

Some people asked me if the hockey game tonight was cancelled due to the weather.  My first reaction was, WTF?  It's, like, shorts weather out there!  Why would we cancel a game for a little bit of snow?

I did wish I was driving the Suburban today, though, it would've made getting through side-streets a little easier.  Instead I found myself driving into snow, stopping, backing up, and doing it again, to kind of bulldoze my way through the snow.  Really, this kind of weather is why so many Albertans will consider paying more (initial price and at the pump) for four-wheel-drive vehicles.