Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is out with a rainfall warning north and west of Calgary up through the mountains — saying the area could see 50 to 80 millimeters of precipitation.
Areas in the foothills should prepare for heavy rain and thunderstorms by Thursday afternoon that will intensify in the evening.
Rain is expected to taper off Friday morning.
“This is a significant precipitation event,” explained CityNews meteorologist Kevin Stanfield. “You have a low curling across the Rockies and then headed due east but along that northern face, it’s pushing that rain back to the west and when that happens, you end up with isolated areas that can get some extraordinarily high precipitation.
He says some models along the band, not specific to Calgary, are calling for up to 100 millimeters.
For the Calgary area, the most likely outcome is 40 to 50 millimeters, according to Stanfield.
“A lot of this is starting up around sunset, closer to 10 p.m. and then carrying at a pretty good clip right through to the early hours of Friday. That 40 to 50 millimeters will likely be done falling by about 6 a.m.
ECCC is warning of flash flooding and water pooling on roads dur to heavy downpours. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is also possible.
Listen to CityNews660 for the latest on weather, traffic, and news every 10 minutes on the ones.