Josh Classen's forecast: Warm with a late-day storm risk

CTV Edmonton's drone flies west toward Spruce Grove on July 31, 2024. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

We should see afternoon highs in the mid to upper 20s through the rest of the week and the coming weekend in Edmonton.

Today and Thursday are probably the warmest days, but only by two or three degrees.

So, it'll be a slightly warmer-than-average start to August (average high for the first week of August is 24 C).

The greatest risk of thunderstorms (potentially severe storms) will be across the northern third of Alberta.

Edmonton and area is on the southern edge of that potential storm zone and it's very likely that we'll see some late-afternoon/early evening showers or storms in the region.

The rough ETA looks to be 5-8 p.m. Storms will develop west and northwest of the city this afternoon and move east very quickly.

Aside from some localized downpours and potentially some pockets of small hail...strong wind gusts look to be the main threat from the storms.

Further north, the storms could produce larger hail (especially in the High Level and Fort Chipewyan regions).

After today, the storm risk diminishes for the Edmonton area. Northern Alberta will get another round of showers and thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening.

An upper ridge will build in over southern Alberta in the coming days, but it doesn't look like we'll get into that hottest air in the Edmonton region.

That ridge breaks down over the weekend as the heat slumps back southwards.

There's some uncertainty with the precipitation outlook for the weekend. But, at this point, it looks like MOST (possibly all) of the weekend will be dry in and around Edmonton.

That said, I've put a chance of some showers into the forecast for early Saturday morning. (I'm not convinced we get much, if ANY precipitation though.)

Wildfire smoke continues to be an issue in the Jasper and High Level regions.

However, we're not expecting any smoke to move into the Edmonton area in the next day or two.

 

Here's the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Sunny with a few clouds. 60% chance of a late-afternoon thunderstorm.

High: 28

 

Tonight - 60% chance of a thunderstorm early in the evening. Clearing overnight.

9pm: 20

 

Thursday - Sunny with a few clouds.

Morning Low: 13

Afternoon High: 28

 

Friday - Mainly sunny.

Morning Low: 14

Afternoon High: 25

 

Saturday - 30% chance of showers early in the morning. Then...Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 15

Afternoon High: 26

 

Sunday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 15

Afternoon High: 26

 

Monday - Mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers.

Morning Low: 15

Afternoon High: 22