Snowfall warning issued for Calgary and area with another 10+ cm of snow expected

Flurries persist through Tuesday. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

A low-pressure system tracking west to east across the province is expected to produce periods of heavy snowfall for the Calgary area.

Just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a yellow-level snowfall warning in and around Calgary explaining, “Heavy bands of snow are moving through the area, and are expected to give localized amounts of five to 10 centimetres of snow. This will impact travel conditions this morning in the area. The heavy snow will end later this morning for areas near Calgary, and early this afternoon for communities closer to Claresholm.”

Prior to that, a special weather statement was issued for areas along the foothills – including Banff National Park - due to the development of bands of flurries across the region.

According to the national weather agency, snowfall rates within those snowbands will be heavy at times, “reducing visibility and causing snow to accumulate quickly.”

This could prove especially troublesome for drivers.

“Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions. Allow extra time for travel. If driving, turn on your lights, slow down and maintain a safe following distance,” ECCC said.

This system will track east across the prairies over the next couple of days (as an “Alberta clipper”), with heavy, wet, snow expected as far east as Ontario.

Yellow-level wind warnings have been issued for the southwest portion of the province, with ECCC explaining, “Winds gusting to 100 km/h in some locations will diminish later this morning.”

The wind in southern Alberta will be predominantly from the west, with areas like Calgary experiencing north winds associated with the frontal system.

Sustained wind speeds in Calgary on Tuesday will be around 20 to 40 km/h.

This wind will compromise visibility as falling and fresh snow blows around.

Daytime highs in southern Alberta will be warm Tuesday, peaking around 14 C.

Daytime highs will remain cooler in Calgary, peaking at 3 C Tuesday and climbing to 8 C on Thursday.

The normal high this time of year is 9 C.

The overnight lows in Calgary will range from -2 C to -4 C ( the average low this time of year is -4 C).

There will be more sunshine starting Wednesday, which will help with the melting and create a freeze-thaw cycle with some surfaces likely to be icy in the early part of the day.