Josh Classen's forecast: Another week of -20 C

The arctic air has returned after a brief warm up this past weekend.

It looks like we're in for another six days where the temperature doesn't get above -20 C.

Morning lows should be near -30 C on Wednesday and in the -35 C range Thursday morning.

That'll be the "bottom" of this current cold spell. But, I don't think there's much chance of Edmonton getting back above -10 C until Monday of next week.

Temperatures will likely "wobble" between -25 C and -27 C through the day today with wind chill in the mid -30s much of the day. Strongest wind should be through the first half of the day (15-20 km/h this morning and then 10-15 km/h this afternoon).

The wind eases tonight and should be light on Wednesday.

Wednesday and Thursday will probably stay below -25 C for daytime highs and we're only back to highs in the -23 C to -26 C range for the weekend.

BUT...

The long-range forecast DOES look promising. We should break out of the deep freeze on Monday and daytime highs are will very likely be in the 0 to -5 C range all of next week.

I have a fairly high degree of confidence that this isn't just the models "pushing" us back closer to average.

How certain am I that we'll ACTUALLY warm up?

Well...things COULD change.

But, based on what I'm seeing, I'll be surprised if we don't get out of the arctic air by early next week.

As for snow: there might be a few occasional flurries today (especially this morning), but nothing too significant.

Friday has the potential for a bit of light snow and so does the weekend. But, I'm not seeing another dump of 5 to 10 cm coming this week.

Here's the forecast for Edmonton:

Today - Cloudy with a few sunny breaks. Flurries ending early this morning. 30% chance of flurries this afternoon.

Wind: N 15-20 km/h. Wind chill near -35 most of the day.

Temperature steady near -26

Tonight - Mostly cloudy.

Wind: N 5-10 km/h.

9pm: -27

Wednesday - Mostly cloudy through the day. Clearing in the evening.

Morning Low: -30

Afternoon High: -28

Thursday - Increasing cloud in the morning. Mostly cloudy afternoon.

Morning Low: -35

Afternoon High: -28

Temperature rising overnight.

Friday - Mostly cloudy. 40% chance of flurries or light snow.

Morning Low: -26

Afternoon High: -24

Saturday - Partly cloudy. 30% chance of light snow in the evening and overnight.

Morning Low: -31

Afternoon High: -25

Temperature dropping to -30 in the evening and then slowly rising overnight.

Sunday - Mostly cloudy. 30% chance of light snow, especially early in the day.

Morning Low: -26

Afternoon High: -22