Snow returning to Alberta on Thursday, here’s what to expect

Snow plows can be seen on a stretch of street in Edmonton in this undated file photo. (File)

Get ready for snow to return in a big way Thursday.

This will be a significant snowfall for areas from NW and west-central Alberta all the way through east-central Alberta and on into central Saskatchewan.

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There’s still some uncertainty with how much accumulation we’ll have by Friday morning, but most areas will get between 5 and 20 cm.

Here’s how it’s expected to play out in the Edmonton region:

Rain will begin this evening in the Edmonton region and will flip over to snow at some point overnight.

Because there’s some uncertainty with when that transition will take place, and some question about how much snow will melt on contact before stacking up - I’m going with a rough estimate of 5 to 15 cms of accumulation for Edmonton and area by Friday morning.

Both the morning and late-day commutes will be impacted, as will highway travel throughout the day.

We’re also anticipating wind gusts in the 30-40 km/h range through most of the day, so blowing snow will be an issue, especially in exposed areas.

Temperatures will be falling slowly throughout the day, with afternoon temperatures around -2 and wind chill in the -8 range in the city.

That cooler air will stick around for several days with daytime highs in the 0 to -4 range for Fri/Sat/Sun.

Morning lows will be in the -10 to -15 range Sat/Sun.