Edmonton weather: Blowing snow alert, wind chill -30, wild swing to 4 C Monday

A look at Saturday’s Edmonton weather from Environment Canada.

It’s -21 C at the Edmonton Blatchford weather station early Saturday with 18 km/h winds from the northwest gusting to 32 km/h and a wind chill of -32.

Wind gusts of up to 60 km/h Saturday morning, with an Environment Canada blowing snow advisory remaining from Friday, cap off a blizzardy launch into the weekend for much of the province, including Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

“Poor visibility in snow and blowing snow is expected today. Strong northwest winds combined with freshly fallen snow will reduce visibilities in parts of Alberta today. Wind chill values between -30 and -40 are also expected,” said the 5 a.m. Saturday Yellow Advisory from Environment Canada.

“Travel will likely be hazardous due to near-zero visibility.”

Conditions are expected to gradually improve by afternoon but non-essential travel is not recommended.

“If driving, turn on your lights, slow down and maintain a safe following distance,” said the alert.

While the snowfall is to end late Saturday morning, wind gusts are still forecast to strike between 20 km/h and 40 km/h until noon, with the high of -19 C and a wind chill of -35 in the morning and -28 in later in the day. Frostbite is a very real threat, warns Environment Canada.

Wild weather swing with highs above zero to come

But the blistering freeze is set to take a wild swing Monday, with an Environment Canada forecast of 4 C for a high that day.

The needle will move slowly though, with increasing cloudiness Sunday morning and wind up to 15 km/h, the high -7 C.

The Sunday wind chill is still skin shattering, at -33 in the morning and -16 by afternoon. Risk of frostbite remains.

But by Sunday night, expect clouds with the mercury rising to -4 C, then the Monday high to hit 4 C.

Extreme weather response

The City of Edmonton on Dec. 19 activated its extreme weather response to help keep vulnerable people safe during the holiday cold snap.

The activation is to end on Sunday at 3 p.m., as temperatures rise.

The city’s threshold for activating this response is a temperature of -20 C with wind chill for at least three consecutive nights, usually accompanied by an Environment Canada extreme cold warning.

The city encourages vulnerable Edmontonians to go to shelters to protect themselves from winter conditions. Open city facilities like recreation centres and libraries are available for anyone seeking respite from the extreme cold.

Expanded overnight shuttle service aimed at transporting vulnerable Edmontonians to shelters will end after the routes are completed Dec. 27.

The city will continue to operate regular shuttle service until March 31, which can be expanded if other extreme-weather responses are activated in the future.

The regular nightly response includes: Two shuttles, a north and south route, run nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., providing transportation to available shelter spaces

A 24/7 Hope Mission shuttle along a west route until March 3, providing transportation to shelters, support services and health-care providers.

From 12:45 to 3:30 a.m., the north and south winter shelter shuttles focus on transporting people from transit stations to shelters based on need, and are not on a set route.

If you see someone sheltering outside, call 211 immediately to connect them with transportation, shelter, and support. Check the City’s extreme weather response page for information on available emergency shelters, bus routes, and services.

Edmonton forecast

Today: Snow ending late morning, then clearing. Blowing snow in the morning, up to 2 cm. Wind northwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 km/h, increasing to 60 km/h early morning then falling to 20 km/h gusting to 40 km/h near noon. High – 19 C. Wind chill minus 35 in the morning and minus 28 in the afternoon. Risk of frostbite.

Tonight: Clear, with wind up to 15 km/h and a low of -26 C. Wind chill minus 29 in the evening and minus 34 overnight. Risk of frostbite.

Tomorrow: Increasing cloudiness in the morning with wind up to 15 km/h. High -7 C. Wind chill minus 33 in the morning and minus 16 in the afternoon. Risk of frostbite. Then at night, cloudy with a low of -4 C and Monday a high of 4 C.

Sunrise: 8:50 a.m.

Sunset: 4:20 p.m.

Normals:

Max: -7 C

Min: -16 C

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