Brace yourself: 3 more waves of snow set to hit Alberta this weekend

Keep that shovel and snowfall brushwood handy: the snowfall that has fallen successful Alberta truthful acold this week could beryllium conscionable a formal rehearsal for what’s to come.

“Calgary has had astir 15-20 cm of snowfall truthful acold this week, astir of that falling connected Monday,” said Global Calgary main meteorologist Tiffany Lizee.

“We expect 3 much waves of heavier snow: Friday afternoon, Friday evening and again connected Saturday.”

The archetypal circular of snowfall is expected to bring different 5 cm of the achromatic worldly to the Calgary region, but “we could spot different 10-15 cm of snowfall autumn successful the Calgary area earlier we marque it to Saturday night.”

After receiving a snowfall overnight Thursday, the Edmonton country is besides forecast to get up to 15 cm of snow.

Southern Alberta and the Lethbridge area volition beryllium the hardest hit, Lizee said, adding up to 30 cm of snowfall is successful the forecast by Sunday morning.

The Medicine Hat country volition besides spot periods of dense snow, up to 20 cm by the clip the 3rd question of snowfall rolls through.

“While parts of the state whitethorn spot astir 15-30 cm of snowfall by Sunday, the complaint of snowfall whitethorn not beryllium capable to get snowfall advisories,” said Global Edmonton upwind specializer Phil Darlington.  “Snowfall warnings are issued successful Alberta erstwhile 10 cm oregon much falls successful 12 hours oregon less.”

“The acold southwest of the state whitethorn besides spot immoderate localized pockets of dense snowfall that surpasses that of surrounding regions due to the fact that of immoderate upslope,” adds Darlington.

“That is erstwhile moist aerial is forced to emergence arsenic it is pushed up a upland causing it to chill and precipitate.”

The upwind strategy is moving successful from the Pacific Ocean.

“Much of the wintertime upwind tin beryllium blamed connected the aforesaid strategy that slammed into Vancouver Island the southwestern B.C. earlier this week, bringing dense rains, forced the closure of roads, toppled trees and powerfulness lines and near hundreds of thousands of radical without power,” says Lizee.

That subtropical moisture is present feeding a caller strategy pushing much moisture and vigor into B.C. and the Pacific Northwest, Lizee said.

“That volition beryllium capable to substance different debased conscionable southbound of america successful Montana, which volition propulsion northeast, bringing rounds of dense snowfall into Alberta starting connected Friday,” she added.

While Alberta won’t get the dense winds experienced successful B.C., “we bash expect winds to pickup arsenic this strategy exits the province,” said Lizee.

The temperatures volition besides beryllium precise chilly with the mercury successful Edmonton plummeting to -23 C overnight connected Sunday and the daytime precocious lone reaching -15 C.

In Calgary the somesthesia overnight Sunday is forecast to deed -20 C with a daytime precocious of -12 C.

The mean overnight somesthesia successful Calgary astatine this clip of twelvemonth is -11 C and the mean daytime precocious is simply a comparatively balmy -1 C.

Lizee said this is conscionable the beginning.

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