Josh Classen: Icy start to Wednesday, sunny and windy later on
Freezing rain this morning will give way to sunny breaks and windy conditions for this afternoon in the Edmonton area.
As we've been talking about for the past few days, many roads and sidewalks have been covered in a sheet of ice (again).
Highways from Whitecourt and Athabasca south to Red Deer and east to the Saskatchewan border have been hit with freezing rain and/or wet snow.
511 Alberta is reporting a multi-vehicle collision in south Leduc on the QE2 and a jackknifed semi on Highway 13 just west Wetaskiwin.
If you can stay off highways in central and north-central Alberta, that's the safest bet this morning.
Some roads in the city of Edmonton are more wet and slushy, rather than hard ice. But, it may be tough to tell as other roads have glare ice that appears wet.
As always, give yourself some extra time on the roads and some extra stopping time between you and the vehicle in front of you.
The freezing rain should end by mid morning. But, wind will start to gust this afternoon and that'll polish of the surfaces.
While the afternoon/evening commute won't have falling precipitation, roads will still be very icy in areas.
Here's what's coming next:
Temperatures will top out just slightly above zero midday and then a cold front will sweep in from the northwest.
That'll kick up the wind and temperatures will start to drop.
So...we're looking at gusts in the 40-50 km/h range this afternoon and temperatures around -3 C by late afternoon.
Partly cloudy skies and highs in the -2 to -6 C range Thursday and Friday. That puts us right around average for this time of year.
We'll get another push of warm air for Saturday with temperatures climbing several degrees above zero.
THEN...cooler air returns for Sunday/Monday.
Here's the forecast for Edmonton:
Today - Freezing rain and wet snow ending mid to late morning.
Sunny breaks and windy this afternoon. Gusts in the 40-50 km/h range.
Noon: 1
5pm: -3
Tonight - Partly cloudy. Wind easing early in the evening.
9pm: -6
Thursday - Partly cloudy.
Morning Low: -9
Afternoon High: -4
Friday - Mix of sun & cloud.
Morning Low: -11
Afternoon High: -3
Saturday - Mix of sun & cloud.
Morning Low: -8
Afternoon High: 3
Sunday - Partly cloudy.
Morning Low: -11
Afternoon High: -4
Monday - Partly cloudy.
Morning Low: -13
Afternoon High: -9
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