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| Kennedy Blakey photo |
C. Davis - It was so windy I gave up trying to take a good picture of how windy it was. Southwestern Alberta communities are used to high winds. They're a fact of life here, and the average citizen doesn't blink at winds that provoke states of emergency elsewhere. Having said that, yesterday's wind event was memorable for its intensity. Castle Mountain Resort's Jason Crawford told the Voice that a peak gust of 182 km/h was recorded at 8:52 am yesterday at ridge top. TransAlta reported 140 km/h at Cowley Ridge, and that may not have been the peak activity. Those are not typos. Environment Canada warned of 120 km/h winds in the Crowsnest Pass and Cardston regions. The Pincher Creek Airport weather station reported 81 km/h gusting to as high as 107 km/h. At the Waterton Park gate it was 79 km/h gusting to 108 km/h. Residents said they believe the wind was more extreme than that in the Twin Butte area. The coulees on Highway 6 and Highway 3 are always treacherous in this kind of weather, but a longtime Twin Butte area resident tells us it was particularly bad at Yarrow Creek.
