From snow to extreme cold, winter is in full swing in Edmonton

Temperatures plunged to below -30 C in Edmonton on Monday. David Ewasuk finds out how residents are coping.

A parking ban is underway in Edmonton as extreme cold weather grips the capital region.

The parking ban began Sunday night and is expected to last five days, the City of Edmonton said.

“Snow has been coming down with significant accumulation in the last 48 hours, and a Phase 1 parking ban is necessary to ensure the major roadways are cleared and safe for all vehicles,” said Val Dacyk with the City of Edmonton.

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“Keeping major roadways cleared of parked vehicles is essential for crews to clear roads. ”

Phase 1 will see crews work on arterial roads, collector roads, bus routes and roads with business improvement areas. Edmontonians can continue to park on residential streets.

Vehicles left on these roads during the parking ban may be ticketed, the city said.

After days of non-stop snow, Edmonton is now under an extreme cold warning with temperatures in the -30 C region.

“Wind was worse on Sunday,” Josh Classen, CTV News Edmonton’s chief meteorologist, said. “Today the wind was about five to 10 kilometres. Yesterday you had wind up around 20-25 km/h. So windchill yesterday was a lot worse than it was today.”

As of 3:30 p.m., AMA road assistance experienced wait times of 20 hours for towing and nearly eight hours for battery boosts.

“Anytime the temperature drops, we’re inundated with calls for all number of things,” Lance Hughes with AMA said. “Vehicles in the ditch, vehicles not starting, boosts, tows, things like that. All manner of roadside assistance requests tend to spike with the when the temperature dips. So that’s what we’re seeing today.”

Tuesday’s forecast has a low of -31 C and late-day flurries.