Winter storm slamming Alberta soon and up to 20 cm of snow is forecast
Parts of Alberta saw their first big taste of winter weather earlier this week, and the risk of more snow hasn’t faded just yet, with a fresh system aiming for the province soon.
We know Calgary and southern Alberta got walloped on Monday by heavy snow, and unfortunately for them, more is on the way.
Daily Hive chatted with Alysa Pederson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), on just how much snow is set to land in Alberta, and when it’s expected.
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If you already put your snow shovel away, you may want to go and retrieve it, with Pederson tapping a system moving through the province set to impact southern Alberta more than central and northern Alberta starting today.
“For central Alberta, Edmonton included, we’re looking at a couple of centimetres. There will be flurries, enough to probably cause some slippery conditions on highways in and around the city as well,” Pederson said.
“For southern Alberta, there’s likely to be alerts. We’re looking at probably 10 to 20 centimetres for essentially south of Calgary, towards the international border with the system.”
Generally speaking, flurries will likely start to fall today and into the overnight hours on Friday in central Alberta, and heavier snow will appear in southern Alberta around the same time frame.
A lot of people will probably be waking up to a decent amount of snow down closer to the border, like Lethbridge, come Friday morning.
It’s also going to be a bit of a temperature rollercoaster in much of the province over the next week or so, with a blast of warmer air coming in from southern British Columbia that will drive temperatures back up on Sunday and Monday, before we see another dip in temperatures on Tuesday.
With that system rolling through next week, it will also bring the risk of snow with it; however, the certainty or confidence on the timing and location of where that would be isn’t high right now, according to Pederson.
“The system change is going from the cold temperatures to warmer; we’re getting indications that parts of Alberta are likely to get some snow or some flurries again, kind of Monday, Tuesday. But… confidence in that will come, obviously, probably on the weekend or into Monday.”
That temperature rollercoaster meteorologists are expecting is quite apparent in the seven-day forecasts for Calgary and Edmonton, with Calgary seeing brisk temperatures heading into the weekend before a warmup on Sunday/Monday, before a dip once again on Tuesday.
Edmonton’s forecast is a tad chillier overall but will follow a similar cold/warm/cold pattern like Calgary and much of the province.
Calgary
Environment and Climate Change Canada
According to ECCC, the normal temperatures for Calgary at this time of year are a high of zero and a low of -11ºC.
Edmonton
Environment and Climate Change Canada
According to ECCC, the normal temperatures for Edmonton at this time of year are a high of -3ºC and a low of -11ºC.
You can view the full list of watches, warnings, and special weather statements on the ECCC weather information portal.