Edmonton weather: Gusty, a few showers and the smoke has cleared — for now

Clouds hang over downtown Edmonton in this aerial photo taken over the North Saskatchewan River valley. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

Air quality improved dramatically overnight and we’re dealing with much cleaner air in the Edmonton region.

However, there’s still quite a bit of smoke hanging over western Alberta and areas from Red Deer south to the U.S. border.

Air quality warnings remain in effect for those areas.

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There’s some uncertainty with the smoke forecast because of the showers in the forecast, but the smoke modelling indicates air quality could get worse again late today in the Edmonton region.

That would make sense, given the strong southerly flow that’s drawing some showers north toward the city.

So...we’ll see how this plays out, but we might see some wildfire smoke return to Edmonton late today. Even if that does happen, it’s looking much less smoky for Friday/Saturday.

As for the precipitation, we’ll have some showers move into the Edmonton region late this morning and there’s a chance of showers in the area right through to Friday night.

That said, it won’t be non-stop rain.

Here are the best chances for Edmonton:

• Late-morning and early this afternoon: High probability
• Late this afternoon and this evening: Low to moderate probability
• Overnight and early Friday morning: High probability
• Friday mid-morning and early afternoon: Low probability
• Friday late afternoon and evening: High probability (risk of thunderstorms)

So, the first wave of showers is expected to push through the Edmonton area today and then head north. Most of the showers/rain this evening and Friday will be across northern Alberta from the Peace Country east toward Fort McMurray.

For Edmonton and areas to the south, the precip should be a little less consistent.

Gusty wind expected for today, tonight and Friday morning as well. I think the wind should start to back off Friday afternoon unless we get a thunderstorm late in the day.

Looking ahead to the weekend: a Mix of sun and cloud for Saturday/Sunday with afternoon highs in the 18 to 21 C range.

We have a slight chance of a shower early Saturday morning in the Edmonton area.

There’s also a slight risk of a shower late in the day Sunday.

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Mostly cloudy with a few showers, especially late this morning/early this afternoon.

Wind SE 20 gusting to 40 km/h.

High: 18

Tonight - Cloudy with a 40% chance of showers.

9pm: 17

Friday - Mostly cloudy. 60% chance of showers in the morning. Risk of a thunderstorm in the afternoon or evening.

Morning Low: 13

Afternoon High: 19

Saturday - Mix of sun & cloud. 30% chance of a shower early in the morning.

Morning Low: 12

Afternoon High: 19

Sunday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: 10

Afternoon High: 20

Monday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 11

Afternoon High: 22

Tuesday - Mix of sun & cloud. 30% chance of showers.

Morning Low: 11

Afternoon High: 23