Josh Classen's forecast: Snowy and chilly, but only for today

We're back to sunshine and back above 0 C in Edmonton Thursday as temperatures climb for the end of the week. But...we're into some colder air and snow for most of today.

Temperatures hit 6 C on Tuesday, but started to drop by mid to late afternoon.

We'll stay well below 0 C through this morning and early this afternoon and then we get a high near -4 C later in the day.

It's been all snow in the Edmonton region overnight and early this morning. But, we've had freezing rain further west. Freezing rain warnings are in effect early this morning in Hinton, Edson and Whitecourt areas, north to Grande Cache and Grande Prairie.

Highway conditions are reportedly in pretty rough shape to the west and northwest of Edmonton this morning.

511 is reporting partly to fully covered roadways (snow and ice), as well as reduced visibility with some blowing snow.

Highways in the Red Deer region are in similar condiiton.

Roads in east-central and northeast Alberta look to be fine this morning, but that'll change this afternoon as the snow moves in.

Snowfall totals for the city are still a little uncertain. I thought we'd have a bit more accumulation by now, so the risk of 10 cm looks pretty much out of the cards.

But, a total of 3-7 cm is likely in the city and surrounding areas.

As some milder air moves in aloft later today, there's also a chance we'll see a bit of a phase change for precipitation and it may turn to ice pellets.

There's even a slight risk of some freezing rain, although that looks less likely for the city. Areas further south near Red Deer appear to have a higher chance for freezing rain later today.

Bottom line: Roads aren't in great shape around the city this morning and probably get worse through the day as the snow intensifies a bit.

Skies start to clear overnight and we'll be sunny on Thursday with temperatures rising two to four degrees above 0 C late in the day.

Above-average temperatures are also expected in southern and western Alberta.

Eastern Alberta gets back to around average on Thursday and then the warmer air moves in for Friday.

Looking ahead to the weekend: We'll have some snow and mixed precipitation across northern Alberta (High Level to Fort McMurray) on Saturday.

That should stay well to the north of the Edmonton area, but I've included a slight risk of flurries into the evening forecast for Saturday.

Sunday has snow in southern Alberta (but that should all avoid the Edmonton region).

 

Here's the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Periods of snow. 3 to 7cm. Chance of ice pellets this afternoon.

Slight risk of freezing rain in the afternoon.

Wind: 10-15 km/h with occasional gusts around 25 km/h

High: -4

 

Tonight - Clearing overnight.

9pm: -8

Midnight: -10

 

Thursday - Sunny with a few clouds.

Morning Low: -6

Afternoon High: 3

 

Friday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -1

Afternoon High: 4

 

Saturday - Increasing cloud. 30% chance of late-day flurries.

Morning Low: -2

Afternoon High: 4

 

Sunday - Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: -4

Afternoon High: 0

 

Monday - Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: -6

Afternoon High: -3