اخبار العرب-كندا 24: السبت 16 مارس 2024 09:05 مساءً
Folks across the western half of the country are enjoying an early taste of spring this weekend as unseasonably warm temperatures bathe the region. Some towns will likely set impressive records for early-season heat.
The warm air isn’t long for the world.
A brutal reality check will plunge into Alberta by Tuesday and Wednesday, sending temperatures plummeting as much as 15-20 degrees over the course of one day.
Making matters worse is that substantial snows and major travel impacts are possible across parts of the province through the latter half of the week.
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Sunday and Monday: Record warmth in spots
St. Patrick’s Day will feature impressive warmth across Alberta as temperatures soar far above seasonal for the middle of March.
Daytime highs on Sunday will easily climb into the mid- to upper-teens throughout the province, with 17°C in the forecast for both Calgary and Edmonton.
This would be the warmest reading we’ve ever seen this early in the year at Edmonton Airport. Sunday’s predicted high of 17°C would easily surpass the existing record for warmest temperature so early in the year, a 14.4°C reading achieved on March 8, 1988.
Nighttime lows are unseasonably warm as well. Edmonton’s overnight low on Sunday will be warmer than the city’s typical daytime high for this time of year.
Our warmth will continue into the beginning of the new workweek, with double-digit high temperatures likely for much of the province on Monday.
And then the cold front hits.
Tuesday and beyond: A brutal mid-March reality check
Things will change in a hurry on Tuesday as a disturbance moving out of the northern Prairies gradually replaces the ridge that brought our weekend warmth.
This pattern flip will send cold air spilling across Alberta beginning on Tuesday. Temperatures will come in noticeably chillier across northern and central Alberta. Monday’s high of 15°C will fall on Tuesday to a high of just 2°C for Edmonton, and then highs will drop below freezing into next weekend.
Story continues
Warmer air will hang on just a day longer down the road toward Calgary, where double-digit temperatures are likely again Tuesday afternoon. The cold air will win out overnight, though, and we’ll see much colder air overspread the rest of Alberta by the middle of the week.
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Calgary’s high of 10°C on Tuesday will seem like a distant memory by Wednesday, when snow will accompany a brisk daytime reading of just -5°C. Yes, that’s a minus sign next to the day’s high.
Cold northeasterly winds running against the mountains will bring a risk for widespread upsloping snow through the latter half of the week. Some areas could see substantial snowfall totals with major travel impacts.
Be sure to check back over the next couple of days as forecasters monitor this pattern flip and the risk for disruptive snows.
Header image courtesy of Lena Arkell.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on your forecast across Alberta.
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