As expected, the warm weather moved in quickly Thursday after weeks of unusually cold temperatures and most recently a five-day period that included highs around -20 C, lows close to -30 C and wind chill values close to -40 in the Calgary area.
Within just 14 hours Thursday, the temperature at the Calgary International Airport rose from around -16 C at midnight to nearly 8 C by 2 p.m.
Accelerated thawing occurred throughout the day Thursday, resulting in water pooling, localized flooding, leaky roofs and water main breaks as ample snow cover on the ground plus frozen and/or saturated surfaces encountered the combination of sunshine, dry westerly winds and warmer temperatures.
This situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Similar conditions are expected for at least the next week and potentially beyond the next 10 days with daytime highs forecast to range from 8 C to 11 C and overnight lows closer to the freezing mark.
The normal high this time of year is 0.6 C with a low of -11.1 C.
Westerly winds will be strong in Calgary over the next few days, with sustained winds around 20 km/h and gusts closer to 40 km/h.
Those winds will be more intense in the southwest corner of Alberta (e.g. Crowsnest Pass, Pincher Creek and Waterton) with gusts potentially edging close to 100 km/h at times.
The main weather maker right now is a strong ridge of high pressure that moved in from the east Pacific basin.
This is the preliminary system preceding at least two atmospheric river setups which could channel significant amounts of moisture into southern B.C.
Due to cooler temperatures in the higher elevations, that rain will turn into heavy wet snow on the B.C. side of the Rockies, potentially create some unstable layers in the alpine snow pack.
Snow is likely along the foothills by the end of the weekend and with persistently warmer temperatures, possibly some rain in central and southern Alberta.
Calgary should avoid most of that precipitation as the reformation line is likely to develop east of the city.
