INNISFAIL – The nasty side of the face of winter may be in full view but the Town of Innisfail has not encountered any problems, so far at least.
There’s been plenty of worrisome discussion on local social media channels. There is concern about potential knocked out furnaces, broken water pipes and motor vehicles not starting.
Some local stores are shortening their hours this weekend. Cooks are showing off their best cold weather dishes, and the truly optimistic are sending out messages to “embrace” Mother Nature’s chill.
While worry and concern is the only reality at the moment, the Town of Innisfail is watching, and is prepared.
“Homeowners or renters have not called to say they have any issues. We haven't had to go out to turn any water off at this point,” said Ken Kowalchuk, manager of communications and marketing for the Town of Innisfail.
This week’s cold snap across Alberta, which followed a long unseasonably warm late fall and early winter into the first week of 2024, has brought bone-chilling deep freeze temperatures as low as -50C in some parts of the province.
In central Alberta, temperatures brought by the polar vortex are expected to drop as low as -44C Friday might, and -43C on Saturday.
It will get a bit better on Sunday, with the low of about -34C. The weatherman is then predicting Monday’s high to be -17C, with temperatures stabilizing in the low and mid-teens for the rest of the week.
“As far as staffing is concerned, most of our staff will be doing internal maintenance,” said Kowalchuk of the town’s plan on how it will get through Mother Nature’s immediate nastiness. “They'll be working in the shops. We're not sending a lot of the equipment out because the weather's really hard on the equipment.
“The only equipment that we have out today is the sanding unit, just to get some sand down on the roads because with the colder temperatures things ice up pretty quickly.”
Kowalchuk said he has not yet heard of any cancellations with town-sponsored events for the coming weekend, or any plans to close any facilities.
He conceded the best news is that it’s predicted the current cold snap will be short with seasonable temperatures taking over by Monday.
“We haven't had to moderate our (staff) scheduling too much because of the short duration of the cold snap,” said Kowalchuk.
However, he said if any homeowner or business does encounter a nasty cold weather-related issue this coming weekend he or she can call the town at 403-227-3376.
“As always we have a 24-hour answering service, and we always have staff on call,” said Kowalchuk. “People can call in. There are operations staff that are on call throughout the weekend.”
