Josh Classen's forecast: Cold spell wanes while storm blasts NW Alberta

It'll be another cold day across central and northern Alberta.

Edmonton and area are MUCH warmer than Wednesday morning, but we're still dealing with temperatures around -20 C and wind chills around -30.

In northeastern Alberta, Fort McMurray has had wind chills in the MID -40s this morning!

 

But, for Edmonton and area...this is our last really cold day.

There's some uncertainty with just HOW warm it'll get Friday (and how quickly).

However, it's safe to say tomorrow will be noticeably warming in the afternoon hours.

 

The system that'll help draw in that warmer air is already producing snow in northwestern Alberta and is set to hammer that region with heavy snow.

Snowfall warnings are in place for Grande Prairie, Hinton/Grande Cache, and Whitecourt/Edson regions.

About 10-20 cm of snow is likely by midday Friday.

Peace River and Slave Lake are under winter storm watches (likely to be upgraded to warnings at some point).

About 15 to 25 cm of snow is likely in those areas by late-morning Saturday with most of that coming through the day Friday.

 

In northeastern Alberta, 5-10 cm is likely for Fort McMurray on Saturday as the system moves east and the Cold Lake/Bonnyille area probably get 10-15 cm.

 

Here in Edmonton, as that storm tears across the north and dumps significant snow, we're really not expecting much significant accumulation.

We have a dusting out there this morning from last night's flurries.

There will probably be 1 or 2 cm later today and tonight.

Another 1 or 2 cm is possible early Friday.

So...we're getting the warm without the storm.

 

Further south, there's a good chance of some freezing rain late Friday afternoon in the Red Deer-Coronation region.

 

Temperatures will through the day will start out in the mid minus teens.

We'll get to around -5 C by the afternoon and probably a bit warmer early in the evening Friday.

So...if you're seeing some forecasts from other sources calling for Friday to be near or above 0 C - that's possible...but probably not in the afternoon.

If we get close to 0 C, it'll very likely be early in the evening.

 

Saturday should be slightly above the freezing mark though and Sunday monday will likely get to three or four degrees above 0 C.

 

Here's the forecast for Edmonton:

 

Today - Cloudy with occasional periods of flurries.

High: -18

 

Tonight - Cloudy with occasional light snow. 1 to 2 cm likely.

9pm: -18

 

Friday - Cloudy with occasional light snow in the morning. 1 to 2 cm likely.

Mostly cloudy in the afternoon with just a slight risk of a few flurries.

Morning Low: -16

Afternoon: -5

Evening: -3

 

Saturday - Mostly cloudy. 40% chance of flurries in the morning.

Sunny breaks developing in the afternoon.

Morning Low: -7

Afternoon High: 1

 

Sunday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -5

Afternoon High: 3

 

Monday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -5

Afternoon High: 3

 

Tuesday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -6

Afternoon High: 2