Alberta may be in the midst of a deep freeze heading into the weekend but don’t get too used to it because a big temperature swing is in the forecast thanks to some warmer air.
Daily Hive chatted with Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), regarding the chilly weather we are settling into, and the warm-up that is right on its heels.
Proctor said that what Alberta is currently experiencing is the result of a “very vigorous” Alberta Clipper, which developed yesterday over north central Alberta and tracked rapidly southeastward last night. It’s currently over southeastern Manitoba.
Associated with that clipper was a large amount of snow across portions of the province, and it also opened a door for cold air to come down into Alberta and plunge southward.
How long is this cold spell forecast to last in Alberta?
Looking at daytime highs, Proctor said temperatures will fall through today and things will really cool off as we head into the weekend. Daytime highs in the Edmonton area will be around -18°C for Saturday and Sunday, and overnight lows will be even colder, with some areas hitting -32°C.
The weather will be a tad colder for northern and eastern Alberta, with the risk of extreme cold warnings being triggered for some areas; however, Edmonton seems to be in the clear for those warnings.
Residents in Calgary and southern Alberta are facing a similar forecast but just a tad warmer. That being said, expect a little bit more snowfall over the next 48 hours, with the train of snow hugging the Rockies.
“Largely you’re going to see periods of light snow through the overnight into early Saturday, before generally clearing up,” adding that YYC should expect to see daytime highs in the -15°C range over the weekend and overnight lows in the -20°C to-23°C range.
Prepare for a roller coaster in temperatures
People in Alberta are used to its wild weather, and another roller coaster in temperatures is in the cards for much of the western Prairies, similar to what we saw over the Christmas break and earlier this month.
Proctor said that while we will be cold this weekend, a return to more cozy temperatures is on its way for a large portion of Alberta.
“We’re really stuck on this cusp of warm and cold air boundary straight through this forecast period. So what we’re expecting is that some of that warmer is going to flood across the Rockies again as we move sort of Monday to Tuesday, and continue into Wednesday, Thursday, and really sort of help warm many communities up.”
In general terms, Proctor added Albertans should expect to enjoy some warm, seasonal to above-seasonal temperatures flow back into southern and central portions of the province as we move into the next workweek.
As for the time frame after that, there is not a lot of consensus in ECCC’s models at this point; however, next weekend is shaping up to be pretty seasonal across Alberta.
“It’s not really looking particularly threatening from a temperature or a weather point of view. Just pretty, just seasonal to just below seasonal is probably what we should be expecting.”