Warm westerly winds started to elevate temperatures along the foothills early Thursday.
As of 5 a.m., communities on the west side of Calgary were noticeably warmer than those on the east with some weather stations reporting temperatures closer to 0 C.
Thursday will be the first of many days with both daytime highs and overnight lows markedly warmer than most of the month of February.
Daytime highs in Calgary over the past week have ranged from -17 C to -20 C values that are well below the average daily low value (for that period) of -12 C.
Starting Thursday, daytime highs in Calgary are expected to sit between 5 C and 9 C, with overnight lows between -3 C and 2 C.
The month of February also brought fresh snow over a month that was so cold there was very little snow melt so, as of Feb. 19, there was still a decent layer of snow on the ground.
These warmer maximum and minimum values combined with ample amounts of sunshine and westerly winds will accelerate snow melt potentially negatively impacting certain infrastructure like water mains and causing pooling on surfaces incapable of absorbing water at the same rate as melt.
