Lethbridge looking mild this next while, weather-wise

Southern Alberta is coming out of its first stretch of significant cold and snow this season, and it might end up being the last for a while.

Southern Alberta is coming out of its first stretch of significant cold and snowy weather of the season.

And it might have been the last cold snap for a while, with warm and dry conditions in the forecast.

Temperatures dipped to near -20 over the weekend before going above zero on Monday.

“Certainly, the pattern for the next seven to 10 days is dry,” said Terri Lang, Environment and Climate Change Canada warning preparedness meteorologist.

“That’s about as far as we can get, sort of comfortably, to try and forecast any weather systems coming through that would give any kind of precipitation.”

December in Lethbridge saw slightly more precipitation than usual, with 19.0 mm compared to the average of 11.5 mm.

But January is expected to be warmer and drier than average.

“It doesn’t mean that it won’t get cold and that every day will be hot,” said Lang.

“It just means that at the end of the month, when you see, statistics-wise, everything, it’s forecast to be warmer than average.”

Meanwhile, the Rockies seem primed for a strong ski season.

Castle Mountain recently received more than a metre of fresh powder in one snowfall.

It’s put the resort ahead of where they were at this time last year.

“We’re really in a fortunate position,” said Cole Fawcett, Castle Mountain Resort sales and marketing manager.

“It does look like it’s a dry week, but, you know, the other side of that coin is that pleasant weather, mild temperatures, sunny days, those are probably the best ones to ski, next to full-blown powder days.”

Farmers who rely on spring runoff water from the mountains aren’t sounding the alarm just yet either.

But they’ll keep a close eye on the snowpack.

It’s already expected to be a tough growing season with high input costs and low commodity prices.

Water rationing could make the situation go from bad to worse.

“The snow in the mountains is a huge deal, especially for irrigation,” said Stephen Vandervalk, a farmer.

“It looks like it’s starting to snow a bit more in the mountains there.

“They’ve been getting some more—it’s been a little dire before the last month.”