Josh Classen's forecast: Cold, breezy and snowy end to February

If you just look at the highs and lows in the forecast, you'd think we're getting a bit of a break from the cold spell today and Thursday before cooling again Friday.

UNFORTUNATELY...the wind will be an issue and should cancel out all of that temperature climb.

We're expecting sustained wind around 15-20 km/h through the day with some gusts around 30 km/h.

That'll have it feeling about 10 degrees colder than it reads on thermometers (somewhere in the -20s most of the day).

Wind remains a factor through Thursday and we'll also have some snow moving through the Edmonton region.

Snowfall warnings are in effect for Jasper National Park and the Icefields Parkway. Those areas will get 10-20 cm of snow starting today and ending Thursday.

Edmonton won't see THAT much snow, but I think it'll likely that we'll get at least SOME snow overnight and/or through the first half of the day Thursday.

I'm still thinking 1 to 4 cm is possible, although the latest Canadian modelling has us on the low end of that scale (or getting no more than a dusting).

Areas from Grande Praire/Grande Cache northeast through Slave Lake and up to Fort McMurrary will probably get 5 to 10 cm of snow by the end of Thursday.

Looking further out, there's another potential for some flurries or light snow in the Edmonton area late Saturday into early Sunday.

That system will mainly focus on southern (especially southeastern) Alberta, so we'll see how that develops.

As of right now, there's not a lot of confidence in any snow total estimates for that system.

Daytime highs continue to sit well below average and somewhere in the -10 C to -15 C range right through the weekend in Edmonton.

There are signs of a warming trend kicking in through the course of next week and I'm moderately confident that we'll see highs back to the -5 C range by mid-week and closer to 0 C by the end of next week.

 

Here's the forecast for Edmonton and area:

 

Today - Cloudy with occasional sunny breaks. Wind: SE 15-20 with gusts near 30 km/h.

Noon: -15 **wind chill near -25

4pm: -11 **wind chill near -20

 

Tonight - Mostly cloudy. 40% chance of flurries. Wind easing overnight.

9pm: -9 **wind chill near -15

 

Thursday - Mostly cloudy. 60% chance of flurries or light snow (especially in the morning). 1 to 4 cm possible.

Wind becoming NW 20 gusting to 40 km/h midday and in the afternoon.

Morning: -11 **wind chill near -20

Afternoon: -10 **wind chill near -20

 

Friday - Mix of sun & cloud. Light wind.

Morning Low: -23

Afternoon High: -15

 

Saturday - Mostly cloudy. 60% chance of late-day flurries or light snow.

Morning Low: -20

Afternoon High: -14

 

Sunday - 60% chance of morning flurries. Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: -19

Afternoon High: -14

 

Monday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: -18

Afternoon High: -11