Edmonton weather: Rain ends this afternoon as a cool spell sets in

CTV Edmonton's Cory Edel's forecast shows rain for the next couple of days.

Steady rain for the Edmonton area through this morning with roughly 5 to 15 mm expected by the time it tapers off this afternoon.

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Whether the rain moves out of the region early this afternoon or late this afternoon is still TBD, but it’s looking like it should be gone by 5 p.m. at the latest and we may see some late-day sunny breaks.

It’s a wide, but fairly narrow band of rain that’ll stretch from around Edson/Drayton Valley eastward along the Highway 16 corridor to the SK border.

That band won’t really move much through the day, shifting just slightly north. Instead of moving out of the Edmonton area, it’ll just kind of fizzle out through the afternoon hours.

Summer officially starts tomorrow and we’ll be a bit warmer and drier.

Temperatures are expected to get to around 17 C late this afternoon for the high.

Friday’s high is around 20 C under partly cloudy skies. Showers and thunderstorms will develop near the Edmonton region late in the afternoon and/or early in the evening Friday.

Those showers and storms will pop up in the foothills and through the Red Deer area early in the afternoon and then slide north.

You may be hearing/reading about a “big summer soaker” coming to Alberta this weekend, and that’s true - for southern Alberta.

Between 50 and 100 mm of rain is likely in areas from Banff/Calgary southeast toward Medicine Hat.

Some areas in the southwest corner of the province could get even more. AND...we’ll probably have accumulating snow at higher elevations in the mountains.

However, that system isn’t really expected to affect the Edmonton region or areas to the north.

Red Deer is on the northern edge of the rain zone and probably WILL get a wet Friday/Saturday.

But for Edmonton and area, the bigger story will be the cooler temperatures.

There’s a slight chance of some showers in the area early Saturday morning. But, for most of the weekend, we’ll have a mix of sun and cloud with afternoon highs in the mid to upper teens. (Seasonal average for the first weekend of summer is 21 C.)

Wind will also be a factor on Saturday with gusts in the 30 to 40 km/h range in the Edmonton region.

So, if you’re travelling south this weekend...prepare for heavy, cool temperatures and gusty wind (gusts in the 60-80 km/h range).

But...if you’re staying around Edmonton or the northern half of the province, it’ll just be a cooler than average start to summer with no more than a few scattered showers possible in parts of northwestern late Saturday.

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Rain this morning, tapering off this afternoon.

Sunny breaks late this afternoon & early this evening.

High: 17

Tonight - A few clouds.

9pm: 16

Friday - Partly cloudy. 40% chance of a late-day shower or thunderstorm.

Morning Low: 9

Afternoon High: 20

Saturday - Mix of sun & cloud. Breezy. NE 20 gusting to 40 km/h.

Morning Low: 11

Afternoon High: 17

Sunday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 6

Afternoon High: 17

Monday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: 7

Afternoon High: 18

Tuesday - Partly cloudy

Morning Low: 8

Afternoon High: 22