'We were born in this': Edmontonians embrace weekend's heavy snowfall

This weekend's snowfall in Edmonton was no match for Lionel Neveu.

He, his wife and a man hired by the neighbourhood were prepared, rolling out snowblowers to clear driveways and walkways in Cloverdale, in Edmonton's river valley. Neveu even got to try out a new snowblower that he bought two years ago.

"I love it," Neveu said of the heavy snowfall. "It gets you out, it keeps you young — and in my case, I need a lot of that.

"When it gets colder, of course, it's a different story. We probably won't enjoy as well," he said. "But hey — it's winter, we're Canadians. We were born in this."

On Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a snowfall warning for Alberta, forecasting up to 35 centimetres of snow in some eastern parts of the province by Saturday night. Edmonton and some other areas were expected to get 15 to 25 centimetres.

According to the agency's latest weather summary, Edmonton was pummelled with 19 centimetres on Friday and Saturday. Nine centimetres fell at the airport, south of the city, during that time.

But the snow was not poor enough to keep everyone from enjoying the powder: Helen Maimescul and her family went sledding down the tall hill at Gallagher Park, in Cloverdale.

"It's really nice outside — sort of warm, got a lot of snow. Why not?" Maimescul said.

"We thought it would be a good chance to take our son out and enjoy the time with the family."

Her son, excited about the snowy forecast, had been asking to go sledding for days, she said.

Normally, they would have likely taken him skiing or snowboarding, she said. But with extended family in town, sledding was a good compromise.

Environment Canada has not issued any weather alerts for Alberta Sunday.

There is a 60 per cent chance of flurries in the forecast for Edmonton during the day, but that drops to a 30 per cent chance Sunday night.