For the second time in the past three weekends this fall, winter was the talk of the town.
A snowstorm last weekend brought heavy snowfall, frigid temperatures and postponements, and kept tow-truck drivers and police busy into this week.
“It hasn’t ended,” Tracey Gauthier of SAW Towing said Monday, noting that the company pulled many drivers out of the ditch and helped others whose vehicles were stuck in the knee-high deep snow.
“We were up most of the night (Sunday),” he said. “It’s been just crazy.”
As of mid-afternoon Monday, 12 people came to the Stettler RCMP office to report they went off the road.
“Today, it’s out of hand,” said Sgt. Duncan Babchuk, adding that there were more motorists yet to report incidents with $2,000 or more in damages.
A two-vehicle collision at about 1:20 on Highway 56 and Township Road 40-4 required a tow truck for one of the vehicles, said Sgt. Babchuk.
Police said no injuries were reported.
Len Skaley, who operates a landscaping and snow removal business, has also been going non-stop.
“It’s been hard to keep up and we’re just getting to a point where everything is under control,” he said Monday afternoon.
Skaley, who with his crew cleans about 30 parking lots on a regular basis, worked 21 hours Saturday and put in 16 hours Sunday, functioning on about five hours of sleep Monday.
About 20 centimetres of snow fell in the Stettler region on the weekend, two weeks after the first major snowfall of the season.
“With that much snow, it takes a little longer,” Skaley said.
Another five centimetres hit the region Monday night and Tuesday morning, with temperatures remaining cold in the minus 28C range overnight. It’s expected to warm up Thursday, with a high of -2C, then go down to -23C Friday with a 60 per cent chance of flurries.
Most local sporting events were postponed in Saturday’s storm, including the Stettler Lightning junior B hockey game.