Transportation officials were warning motorists in southern Alberta to stay off the roads Sunday morning as a harsh snowstorm continued to sweep across the region.

The spring storm has dumped about 20 centimetres of snow on Calgary since Friday and more was expected this weekend.

Weekend driving was dangerous in a number of Alberta communities.
(CBC)

The slow-moving storm system will "stall out" over several parts of the province, said CBC meteorologist Teresa Fisico.

There were snowfall warnings in effect for many communities in central and northern Alberta, including Edmonton and Fort McMurray.

The same system was also expected to bring heavy wet snow later Sunday to parts of northern and western Saskatchewan.

The wintry weather has been blamed for hundreds of accidents on Calgary's roads. Stretches of the Trans-Canada and the Queen Elizabeth Highways were in very poor condition Sunday morning, police warned.

Although residents in the city are no strangers to April storms, many say they've had enough.     

"I'm ready to put winter clothes away and be done with sledding. It's time for summer," said one woman out for a walk with her toddler.

It has been a busy weekend for Alberta snowplow operators. Many run landscaping operations in the spring and summer and had converted their equipment before the storm moved in.

"They have to take the dirt buckets off the Bobcats and put the snow buckets back on," said Randy Keene, who runs a snow removal and lawn-care company in Edmonton and Calgary.

Keene said he has received a lot of calls from customers who have already cancelled their snow removal for the season.

In some regions of usually balmy British Columbia, many were caught by surprise by a storm that moved in late Friday and set snowfall records in Nanaimo, Victoria and Vancouver.

Strong winds knocked out power in Nanaimo and nearby communities. Nearly 7,000 people along the east coast of Vancouver Island were without power Saturday afternoon. That number dropped to just under 1,000 Sunday morning.

Emergency crews said they should have power restored later in the day.