Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
With a polar vortex hanging over most of the Province, temperatures in the minus 40s hit three days in a row, from Saturday to Monday in most of the Flagstaff County region, but Killam had the dubious honour of hitting the top three coldest places, including marking third place on Monday, Jan. 15, with a morning temperature of -41C, and a wind chill factor of -53C.
Sunday’s low was -47C (-52C windchill), and most of Saturday was in the -40s, also hitting a lot of -47C (-52). These temperatures are courtesy wxnow. Monday’s wind chill was higher, despite the warmer temperature, due to a 5km/hr wind, gusting to 11 km according to Environment Canada.
At one point during the frigid weekend of Jan. 13 to 15, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) put out an appeal to the Provincial government to use Alberta’s Emergency Alert System. AESO declared a Grid Alert on Saturday, Jan. 13 in response to restricted imports of electricity and very high demand. Albertans were asked to “immediately reduce their electricity use to essential needs only. Reducing peak electricity demand through province-wide conservation will minimize the high potential for rotating outages this evening.”
Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf also issued a statement Saturday evening, noting that extreme weather occurring in Saskatchewan and BC impacted energy sharing, contributing to the grid alert. When the alert was issued, AESO was predicting a 100 – 200MW shortfall of electricity demand.
Albertans responded almost immediately. After the alert was issued, AESO says it saw a “significant 100MW drop in electricity demand,” which it says amounted to a 200MW reduction within minutes, ending the Grid Alert by 8:40 p.m. “The province-wide response to the call for energy conservation was tremendous,”
says Mike Law, President and CEO of the AESO. “On behalf of the AESO, I would like to extend my thanks to all Albertans who responded to the call for action, which ensured we didn’t have to progress to rotating outages, keeping our grid up and running for all Albertans.”
AESO asked Albertans to continue to conserve energy, especially during peak demand period from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the cold snap. Albertans were asked to:
•Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances
•Minimize the use of space heaters
•Delay use of major power appliances (dishwashers/dryers)
•Delay charging electrical vehicles and plugging in block heaters
•Cook with microwave instead of stove
The weekend’s chilly weather caused dense areas of ice fog, particularly in urban areas, during the evenings. Temperatures are expected to moderate over the coming week, with forecast highs
rising to the high teens by mid-week, but with dangerous wind chill values still expected.
Scattered flurries were expected Tuesday, Jan. 16, with more forecast for Saturday and Sunday, when the temperatures are finally expected to return to a -9 mark for daytime highs, with lows in the -13 range.
Accompanying the return of more moderate temperatures, The Weather Network was warning Monday of 5-10cm of snow for the central parts of the province, with heavier amounts approaching or exceeding
30cm for extreme southern sections over a 24-hour period as a front from BC tracks into Alberta, moving south along the foothills. This system will bring light flurries to the Edmonton area, including Flagstaff County early Tuesday, before it pushes south, with Calgary expecting 10-20cm of snow, and more south of that, if the system tracks as it is predicted to do. This system isn’t expected to have a large impact in the Flagstaff region, with 1-5cm at most.
Normal daily minimum temperatures recorded by Environment Canada from the period of 1991-2020 for the Edmonton region are -18 for January.
According to AESO, Battle River Generating Plants, which are rated as ‘gas-fired steam’ made a significant contribution to the grid, with gas generation in Alberta generating the highest total amount of electricity
(over half) going into the grid. Cold weather saw a number of region businesses close on Friday, and the Forestburg Concert Series performance scheduled for Saturday rescheduled to May.