Southern Alberta’s temperature swings in January beyond expert predictions

Southern Alberta is no stranger to fluctuating temperatures, but January has seen much greater swings than experts predicted.

Southern Alberta’s weather has been all over the map this month.

Early January saw temperatures dip close to -20 before nearly hitting 20.

The past few days have seen similar swings.

“We did have some tools, some forecasts, that did suggest some big variations throughout the month, (but) I don’t think we were expecting quite this large a range,” said Natalie Hasell, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) warning preparedness meteorologist.

Those big swings have led to an increase of vulnerable people accessing clothing at Streets Alive Mission.

The quickly changing temperatures make it difficult for the city’s homeless to hang on to their winter clothes.

“What you have is some people that might be accessing more because they take off a layer, and they may take it off and not have it when it gets cold again, so they need to come in … and get that layer back,” said Cam Kissick, Streets Alive Mission COO.

Streets Alive Mission has seen a 20 per cent jump in clients accessing clothing this winter, but so far, the community has been up to the challenge.

“We are very fortunate that we have the community of Lethbridge, who have always been fantastic to us in regard to donations,” said Kissick.

“We are seeing a steady flow coming through the door.”

The weather appears to be settling into a warm stretch, with daily highs above zero for around the next two weeks.

But the cold is likely on its way back.

“Kind of meandering around the freezing mark, so you’re going to be in a freeze-thaw cycle for a while,” said Hasell.

“Temperatures don’t really fall below zero during the day again until maybe (Feb.) 7.”

ECCC is warning southern Albertans to be cautious of upcoming dry conditions and high fire risk.