Year in Review: A record-breaking September snowfall

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – A brutally early arrival of winter-like conditions–Calgary was blanketed by a record-breaking storm in late September.

The first flakes fell on the evening of Friday, Sept. 27 and by the time the storm moved on four days later, 32 centimetres of snow fell, including 25 centimetres on that Sunday.

It’s the second-highest single-day September snowfall ever for the city of Calgary–and the most in 65 years.

The snow left many in awe.

“Mother Nature–she doesn’t read rules books,” said one man in the core.

“We actually travelled all the way from Qatar–which is ine the Middle East–and it’s like plus 35 there,” some travellers told CityNews and 660 NEWS reporters.

Another traveller from Europe said where he lives they don’t get snow often and when they do, it’s not as much as Calgary got in one dump. He said if his home were to get this much snow–they’d all “be stuck”.

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“It’s just awful to have that much snow so quickly.”

Calgary didn’t even experience the worst of the storm–just ask our weather specialist Michelle Yi.

“South and southwest of us really got hit. Lethbridge got almost 55 centimetres. Waterton got 70-plus,” said Yi.

Areas around Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass had a metre of snow to dig out of.

The storm affected harvests here and across the prairies as it made its way towards Manitoba on Thanksgiving weekend, causing several states of emergency and more record snowfall there.

RELATED: ‘Embraces you in snow’: Calgary man narrowly escapes avalanche in Lake Louise

Thirty-four centimetres of snow was recorded over two days in Winnipeg — the highest October total for the city since records began in 1872.

The wild winter weather made Environment Canada’s top 10 weather stories of the year.

Alberta storms made the list more than once.

-with files from the Canadian Press