We’ve been talking about the probability of snow all week and it’s almost here. We’ll get through the daytime hours without any precipitation in the Edmonton area. Temperatures should hit a high near 6 C mid-afternoon and the wind will turn gusty. Wind speeds should be up around 20 km/h with gusts in the 30-40 km/h range by late this morning and that’ll continue through the afternoon and early evening hours. Showers are expected to develop over the Red Deer/Coronation region late this afternoon and then that precipitation will track north towards Edmonton. There’s no guarantee that the precipitation over the Edmonton area starts as rain... but I think it’ll PROBABLY start off as showers, then transition over to snow this evening. That snow will likely continue overnight and through at the first half of the day Thursday before tapering off and moving east Thursday afternoon. I still think it’s very likely that we’ll wake up with a bit of snow on the ground (mainly grassy areas) in Edmonton Thursday and there could be roughly 1-4 cm of accumulation by midday Thursday. Some higher accumulation is expected for areas further north. This will be a broad area of snow that stretches from the Peace Country through to east-central Alberta. Regions along Highway 43 in the northwest and just north of Highway 16 in central and eastern Alberta could pick up 5-10cm of snow. Bottom line: Prepare for the first wintry commute of the fall Thursday morning. Roads may be more wet/slick/icy than snow covered. But, with snow expected to still be falling through the morning drive, give yourself some extra time and watch for icing on areas like bridge decks and overpasses. Another system moves across the province on Friday and that could bring some flurries or maybe 1-2 cm of snow to the Edmonton area. But, the Friday low-pressure system is looking like it will develop further south, so the main “snow zone” will likely be in the Red Deer/Coronation areas. That part of the province probably won’t see much for accumulating snow tonight/Thursday... but could pick up several centimetres on Friday. Temperatures tumble for a couple days and daytime highs will be around the freezing mark in Edmonton Thursday/Friday. However... we’ll see a slight warming trend through the weekend that should push afternoon temperatures back up around 5 or 6 C on Sunday. Daytime highs are still forecast to be in the 6 to 11 C range for Monday/Tuesday. So... yes, we’ll very likely have some snow on the ground as we hit the weekend. BUT... it’ll probably be mostly or completely melted by the end of the weekend or Monday. Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area: Today - Mostly cloudy & gusty. 70% chance of showers late this afternoon turning to snow in the evening. Wind becoming SE 20 with gusts in the 30-40 km/h range late this morning and through the afternoon. High: 6 Tonight - Periods of light snow. 1-4 cm likely. Wind easing overnight. 9pm: 1 Thursday - 70% chance of light snow in the morning, then cloudy. Morning Low: -2 Afternoon High: 1 Friday - Cloudy. 60% chance of flurries or light snow. Morning Low: -4 Afternoon High: 0 Saturday - Mix of sun & cloud. Morning Low: -5 Afternoon High: 2 Sunday - Partly cloudy. Morning Low: -6 Afternoon High: 5 Monday - Partly cloudy. Morning Low: -3 Afternoon High: 8
