Southern Alberta remains under a blizzard warning with strong winds and upwards of 30 centimeters expected to fall by Tuesday morning.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi took to Twitter on Monday to urge residents to avoid the roads and work from home if possible.

"If you must be on the roads today, please leave extra time, drive courteously, be safe, consider @calgary transit," Nenshi tweeted.

Calgary roads were congested Monday, with 11 vehicles piling up just off of the Calgary provincial freeway Stoney Trail at around noon.

Following mild weekend weather, snow began falling in southern Alberta late Sunday night. is forecasting between 15 and 30 centimetres of snow, to be accompanied by strong northerly winds, will fall by Tuesday morning.

Between midnight and 10 a.m. on Monday, Calgary police responded to about 27 collisions.

The worst conditions are expected from Red Deer through to Lethbridge, with northerly winds becoming gusting to 80 km/h, and visibilities near zero at times, according to Environment Canada.

The agency warned that a 鈥渧ery cold Arctic airmass鈥� will hover over the province for the remainder of the week.

A number of Alberta schools were closed Monday and bus routes were cancelled.

Calgary International Airport issued a travel advisory, warning that some flight have been cancelled or delayed because of the storm.

CTV Calgary鈥檚 Stephanie Brennan told New Channel Monday morning that some areas of the province are already reporting whiteout conditions on highways.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not the snow that鈥檚 going to cause major problems over the next 24 hours. It鈥檚 the wind gusts,鈥� she said.

A winter storm warning is also in effect in southern Saskatchewan, with 10  to 15 centimeters of snow forecasted, along with wind gusts up to 60 km/h.

Arctic winds are expected to sweep across the province by mid-week, with temperatures only expected to reach a high of minus 20 C.

CTV's Janet Dirks has been following the situation closely, posting pictures of the weather conditions to her Twitter account.