A 'psychological downer': Calgary sees 7 straight days of snow for 1st time this winter

Calgariansawoke to a sure sign that spring's not quite here yet, and one weather expert says there's more winter weatheron the way.

Morning traffic slowed to a crawl as the city was blanketed under freshsnow Wednesday. The slippery roads contributed to 52 accidents, five of which involved injuries, between midnight and 10 a.m., police said.

"It's almost a psychological downer, the fact that you'd been kind of tricked into thinking spring was here," said Environment Canada meteorologist David Phillips.

The wishful thinking was likely encouraged by the 12 days in February that sawmelting temperatures, sometimes reaching as high as 16 C, he said.

"But it's been seven days in a row with snow. You haven't seen that all winter," Phillips told CBC Calgary News at 6.

While the city hasn't been dumped on, the daily sprinkling of fresh powder has been brought on by Siberian air sweeping in from the North, he explained.

"Of course, with that cold air,dense like molasses, filling all the nooks and crannies,any kind of weather systems that came in from the Pacific will of course produce snow," Phillipsexplained.

Keep your shovel handy

Last spring was Calgary's warmest in roughly 70 years, Phillips said, but Phillips expects this March to be cooler than normal.

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"I wouldn't put away the snow shovel. I wouldn't take off the snow tires," he cautioned.

On average, after March 1, Calgary gets approximately 54 cm of snow, which accounts for 42 per cent of the city's annual snowfall, Phillips said.

"You want spring to be here. You want to go from slush to sweat, but hey ... we know that there's still some winter left in the air."

Calgary's 7-day plan

Wednesday morning's snow-covered commute triggered day one of the city's snow-clearing plan, which involves salting, plowing and paving roads in order of priority.

The first stage targetmajor thoroughfares that see volumes of more than 20,000 vehicles per day, such as Macleod Trail and Crowchild Trail.

On day two, the city will turn to smaller traffic routes, including Kensington Road, bus routes and roadwayswith marked, on-street bike lanes.

The city then works its way through residential blocks, school and playground zones. If at any point fresh snow falls again, the city reverts back to day one to clear Priority 1 routes.

With files from CBC Calgary News at 6