‘A long period of snowfall’ in the forecast for Alberta: Environment Canada

“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”  That verse from the popular Christmas song might perfectly describe the weather in much of Alberta over the next few days.

A vast swath of the province, stretching from the Canada-U.S. border to Grand Prairie is under a snowfall warning with the hardest hit areas expecting more than 30 cm of snow before it tapers off Saturday night.

“(Edmonton) is expecting around 15 to 20 cm of snow, however, there is a potential for some parts of the city to see totals reach up to 25 cm,” said Global Edmonton weather specialist Phil Darlington. “Snow is expected to start falling overnight (Friday), into and through Saturday morning.”

Global Calgary Meteorologist Tiffany Lizee says “the first two rounds of snow on Friday are expected to bring Calgary and Lethbridge about 5-10 cm of snow.”

“It will intensify Saturday morning as a surface low moves through Montana, pushing 15-25 cm up into east-central Alberta and weekend totals of 20-35 cm.”

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Calgary is on the western edge of the weather system, “so there’s a chance most of the snow could miss the city,” said Lizee.  “But if it doesn’t Calgary could get another 10-15 cm of snow by Saturday afternoon.”

The southeastern part of the province, around Medicine Hat is expected to be the hardest hit part of the province.

The snowy roads will also make for some tricky driving conditions.

Edmonton Police say, between Wednesday morning (Nov. 20) and 12:30 Friday they’ve had 491 citizens report being involved in a collision, including 45 hit and runs.

Calgary Police say over a 48 hour period, ending early Friday morning, officers responded to more than 300 traffic collisions, including 67 hit and run crashes.

Staff Sergeant Andy Woodward of the Calgary Police Traffic Unit told Global News “Intersections are like glass and those are the most dangerous areas on the road.”

“Drivers need to keep their distance from other vehicles,” added Woodward.  “If you anticipate a vehicle is going to slow down or stop in front of you, or you see a vehicle four cars ahead of you putting that brake lights on, I would suggest you start braking yourself, don’t wait for the car directly in front of you to brake because the likelihood is you’ll slide into the back of that car.”

The temperature will also be chilly.  The normal daytime temperature in Calgary at this time of year is -1 c but it will be close to -13 c in both Calgary and Edmonton this weekend.

It will “feel five to six degrees colder with the wind chill,” said Darlington.  “Overnight Friday and Saturday we are cooling down into the low-mid minus teens and feeling closer to -20 c with the wind chill.”

In response to the plummeting temperatures, the City of Edmonton announced Friday that is activating it’s ‘Extreme Weather Response‘ effective at 9 a.m. on Sunday Nov. 24 and ending the following Sunday. (Dec. 1.)

The city said the policy is meant to help ensure a “coordinated and urgent response” to protect homeless Edmontonians from life-threatening winter conditions.

“Once the snow clears, winds will also pick up from the north,” said Lizee, “gusting at up to 50 km/hr.”

We should get some relief from the weather by Tuesday when the forecast for Calgary is sunny with a high near zero and in Edmonton -4 c.

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