Alberta may be officially almost a month into spring, but it will be feeling like winter again for people living in many communities in the southern part of the province.
Environment Canada has issued a “yellow” snowfall warning for a large area stretching from Banff to the Crownest Pass and east to the border with Saskatchewan, including the cities of Calgary and Red Deer.
The national weather agency says up to 40 centimetres of snow is possible in the hardest hit area which is expected to be along the Highway 9 corridor between Calgary and Coronation.
The storm is forecast to move into the Calgary area on Wednesday afternoon, likely starting as rain before changing to snow and finally moving out of the area later on Thursday.
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“Snowstorms, we’re averaging one a week,” said Global Calgary traffic and weather specialist Leslie Horton.
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“It will move in later on today, probably starting with rain, starting with snow in the foothills, moving into us, probably with rain that will be short-lived. It will turn into snow — and we are smack dab in the middle of it.
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The forecast for Calgary, which initially included up 30 centimetres of snow, was revised late Wednesday afternoon to only about 15 centimetres in total before the storm moves out of the region on Thursday.
The “yellow” snowfall warning covers a large swath of southern Alberta, with the area stretching from the Saskatchewan border, through Calgary and west of the city forecast to get the most precipitation.
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Environment Canada forecasts the precipitation to start as rain in many areas but change to snow as the temperature drops.
“Timing wavers a bit,” said Horton. “Will it stick around? Probably not. But if we get enough of it, it will start to pile on those roads.”
The forecast high in Calgary on Wednesday is 7 C, but dropping to -9 C overnight and only getting up to about -4 C on Thursday before climbing back up to about 5 C on Friday and into the upper teens or low twenties early next week.
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Any snow that does accumulate will likely be short-lived as temperatures are expected to climb back above freezing on Friday and into the high teens or low twenties by the weekend and into next week.
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Both Lethbridge and Edmonton are outside of the area included in the snowfall warning.
However, Edmonton could see some showers, flurries or periods of light snow Wednesday afternoon and evening, along with some flurries on Thursday.
Showers, flurries and the possibility of a thunderstorm are in the forecast for Lethbridge on Wednesday, along with periods of snow on Thursday.
Environment Canada says blowing snow could also cause poor visibility in some areas, particularly east of Highway 2, toward the Saskatchewan border.
The warning says travel will be challenging and roads and walkways will likely be difficult to navigate, so travelers should allow extra time to get where they are going and motorists should slow down and turn on their headlights.
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