Here it comes. We’ve been talking all week about the big drop in temperature and the potential for snow this coming weekend. That snow potential now looks to be “probable” instead of just “possible” for the Edmonton area and a couple centimetres of accumulation is likely. We’ll get some more rain on Thursday, especially in the afternoon and evening hours. The rain continues off and on through Friday and the wind turns gusty Friday afternoon. THEN...as an upper trough dives in with some colder air aloft, the rain transitions to snow. That flip will happen on Friday in parts of northern Alberta. For the Edmonton area, the precipitation turns to snow Friday night. Heavy snow is expected in areas from Grande Cache south through the Jasper/Hinton/Edson areas and down towards Rocky Mountain House. 10-20cm is possible by late Saturday. 2 to 5cm is possible for areas around Edmonton and south along the QEII corridor through Red Deer and Calgary. Lesser amounts are expected (although some accumulation is likely) for eastern Alberta. If you’re travelling this weekend (especially west of Edmonton), prepare for slick roads and reduced visibility from snow and blowing snow.(although - this should be wet snow, so once it’s on the ground...it’s unlikely to drift.) In Edmonton, most of the snow will fall through the first half of Saturday and it should start to taper off Saturday afternoon or evening. There IS still a chance that this stays more “mixed precip” than flat-out snow. But, that’s looking less and less likely. Clouds will stick around for Sunday and then we’ll get a bit of sun on Monday. Aside from the snow - it’s going to be CHILLY this weekend. Temperatures will hover just slightly above the freezing mark on Saturday (with gusty wind.) Sunday doesn’t look much warmer. I think we’ll be around 5 or 6 degrees for a high in Edmonton. Monday gets close to 10 in the afternoon. Then...after the long weekend, daytime highs settle into the 10 to 15 degree range for next week. So...this weekend brings out first taste of snow, but it definitely doesn’t look like it’ll stick around for long. Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area: Today - Cloudy. Periods of rain starting this afternoon. High: 13 Tonight - Cloudy with periods of rain. 9pm: 10 Friday - Cloudy. 70% chance of showers. Steadier rain starting in the evening. Wind becoming NE 20 gusting to 40 km/h in the afternoon. Morning Low: 8 Afternoon High: 10 Rain transitioning to snow overnight. Gusty. Saturday - Cloudy. Periods of snow. 2 to 5cm accumulation possible. Wind N 20 gusting to 40 km/h. Morning Low: 1Afternoon High: 3 Sunday - Mostly cloudy. Morning Low: -1 Afternoon High: 5 Monday - Partly cloudy. Morning Low: -3 Afternoon High: 9 Tuesday - Partly cloudy. Morning Low: -4 Afternoon High: 11
