By Geoff Smith (@smithco on Twitter) and Lara Fominoff (@fomsy1 on Twitter)

Crowsnest Pass paralyzed by three feet of snow

Feb 6, 2017 | 10:23 AM

CROWSNEST PASS – “Truthfully, we haven’t seen a snowfall like this in a very long time.”

Blair Painter, mayor of Crowsnest Pass, said the snowstorm that hit southern Alberta through the weekend and into Monday is the worst his region has seen in possibly 25 years. Painter added more than 90 cm (three feet) of snow has fallen in the area

“So this is back to an old-fashioned snowstorm,” he said. “The wind has not come up; that’s a real blessing.”

As of late Monday morning Highway 3 remained closed from Coleman, at the western edge of the municipality, to Sparwood, B.C. A further stretch, from 10 km west of Fernie to Elko, was also closed due to a high avalanche risk.

Painter said all of the hotel accomodations in Crowsnest Pass were full, but there hadn’t been a big issue with stranded travellers beyond that. A shelter set up at the Elks hall in Blairmore was visited by only approximately six people, he added. Likewise, some truck drivers had to stop in the community, but it wasn’t a huge issue.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

“The trucking community, they keep an eye out on the condition of the highways ahead of them, and those that were able to stay at home or postpone their trip, or pull over someplace else have done so.”

Among the travellers unable to complete their journeys were the Medicine Hat Tigers. The WHL team spent Sunday night at Cranbrook, according to a tweet by play-by-play announcer Bob Ridley.

For residents of Crowsnest Pass, Monday was essentially a snow day. Painter said people should stay off the roads if possible to allow plow operators to continue to work. Non-essential services, including garbage collection, were cancelled for the day.

Livingstone Range School Division closed schools at Crowsnest Pass as well as Pincher Creek and Lundbreck, just some of the many school cancellations across southern Alberta Monday.

Carol Lacy, manager of Pure Country Pub and Grill, said the snow was up to her thighs outside her home — “and I’m 5’10”.”

“You can barely distinguish the road from the ditch,” she said, adding it would be even worse without the efforts of plows.

“If I didn’t have to come to work, and I didn’t live in town, I wouldn’t be here.”

Environment Canada has now ended the winter storm and snowfally warnings, but Meteorologist Kirk Torneby says this was an extraordinary, nearly four day event, during a time when it’s typically very dry in southwestern Alberta.

“For these big- time snow events obviously they’re very rare for Alberta, especially a prolongued snow events. Usually the snow situation we get at this time in the winter wer’re talking about Alberta clippers. So something that moves very quickly through the province that leaves 5-10 centimetres of snow and a little bit of westerly wind.”

He says officially, 40 centimetres of snow fell in Pincher Creek, 45 cm in Lethbridge, 90 cm in Coleman and a whopping 120 cm at the Waterton Park Gate.