Josh Classen's forecast: A bit cooler, some late-day showers and thunderstorms

An aerial view of construction at Edmonton's Hawrelak Park on Aug. 21, 2024. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

After back-to-back days with highs of 28 C...we'll "cool off" a bit for today and Thursday.

Afternoon highs will be in the low 20s, so that just puts us back to around average.

Showers and thunderstorms will develop midday and through the afternoon for areas around Highway 16 south to the U.S. border.

The best chance for severe thunderstorms will be in areas from around Red Deer/Calgary northeast toward Coronation/Lloydminster.

MOST of the storms will not be severe, but there's a risk of some hail and powerful gusts from one or two storms and we can't rule out the possibility of a tornado.

For the Edmonton region, any thunderstorms that develop will very likely be non-severe.

We've had some wildfire smoke move into the Peace River region and the smoke modeling indicates that we may see some thicker smoke or hazy conditions move south late today and tonight.

There's a chance we get some of that smoke in the Edmonton area overnight and early Thursday.

But, any smoke that DOES make it this far south should be short-lived as the flow switches and pushes the smoke back to the north early Thursday.

 

Heat returns on Friday. Sunny and back into the upper 20s Friday afternoon.

But, it should be short-lived as temperatures return to the low 20s for the weekend.

The precipitation outlook for Saturday/Sunday is far from certain.

I've added a risk of a shower to the Saturday morning forecast...but...don't place any bets on the weekend weather just yet.

Give me 24 hours and we should have a little better idea of how things will play out Saturday/Sunday.

 

Here's the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Increasing cloud this morning. 70% chance of a shower or thunderstorm late this afternoon.

High: 23

 

Tonight - 70% chance of a shower or thunderstorm in the evening. Chance of some increased smoke overnight.

9pm: 18

 

Thursday - Morning clearing. Afternoon sun.

Chance of smoke in the morning, clearing by the afternoon.

Morning Low: 12

Afternoon High: 23

 

Friday - Mainly sunny.

Morning Low: 13

Afternoon High: 28

 

Saturday - 30% chance of morning showers. Then...Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: 13

Afternoon High: 22

 

Sunday - Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: 12

Afternoon High: 23

 

Monday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 12

Afternoon High: 23