Snow forecast for Alberta with nasty Thanksgiving long weekend weather
It’s shaping up to be a Thanksgiving long weekend blanketed with snow for significant portions of Alberta, with some areas forecast to see 20 centimetres or more.
While it’s going to be gorgeous on Friday to wrap up the work week, a big cooldown is on the way. Daily Hive chatted with Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), about what Albertans should expect.
What is behind the arrival of cooler temperatures and snow in the forecast for Alberta?
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Hasell says the weather will make a change in parts of the province as early as Friday due to a number of low-pressure systems that are becoming more significant. The first system will set up over northern Alberta.
By Friday night and into Saturday morning, forecasters are noting a low forming over southern Alberta, as well as another system in Montana.
“The circulation around these lows as they move a little bit toward the east will allow air from the north to circulate down into more southern parts of Alberta. So we’ll see it quite soon already in the north, where northern Alberta will start to see cooler temperatures overnight on Friday already, and then the rest of the western part of the province will see things cool off as we go [into] Saturday, and with that cool-off, we could see snow, especially in the higher elevations,” Hasell said.
By the time we get to Saturday night or Sunday, pretty much everyone in the western part of the province is going to see snow.
“I’m not saying everyone will get snow, but where precipitation is falling, it will be snow.”
How much snow is expected to fall and when?
The areas in Alberta that are currently forecast to receive the most snow are the higher elevations, thanks to the cooler temperatures and colder ground, which allows the snow to stick more easily.
Accumulations are expected to show up along the Foothills starting Saturday morning and ramp up during the day, with five to 10 centimetres in the higher elevations and a few places closing in on the 20-centimetre mark.
Hasell added that by Sunday evening, up to 25 centimetres may have fallen in some higher elevations and will move further south, right to the American border.
Calgary, along with Drumheller, may also see five to 10 centimetres of snow by Sunday evening as the system spreads east.
Red Deer is also running the risk of seeing snow on Sunday, while Edmonton may escape unscathed, with a chance of showers currently in the forecast.
Some models are also suggesting there’s an area a little bit south of Hay River in northern Alberta, which could see “significant” accumulations over the weekend.
Hasell added that motorists travelling for the Thanksgiving long weekend should prepare for the potential of more winter-like conditions than fall.
“Road conditions could be difficult. Things start to warm up slightly on Monday, and we could be dealing with a freeze-thaw cycle. So anything that fell as snow and then melted if it’s still on the ground when the temperatures fall again, that stuff could freeze if the ground is cooled off enough, so you could be dealing with some difficult road conditions, even if the weather itself is benign.”
We are creeping into the middle of October, and when looking at the first day of significant snow totals in Edmonton and Calgary over the past 10 years, are you surprised by the chance of snow this Thanksgiving long weekend? Let us know in the comments.