Southern Alberta braces for weather whiplash

Calgary can expect some wind and warm temperatures, before the cold comes back. Gina Martin has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centr

A low pressure system is coming in like a wrecking ball this Thursday and will disrupt the warm weather Calgary and southern Alberta have been enjoying for much of the work week.

The low carries the characteristics of a mid-latitude cyclone, but isn’t packing as much moisture due to the dry arctic air it’s circulating.

What’s interesting with this situation is that due to the warm air that’s pooled in the province over the last few days, the strong winds fueled by an incoming cold front have actually pushed our temperatures in Calgary to 10 C at 6:10 am!

So, a very early high for the city but a warm one all the same.

East of Calgary, the winds pick up in intensity due to the flatter terrain and could hit speeds of 90 km/h triggering a wind warning for much of southeast Alberta and southwest Alberta as well as areas along Highway 2 down to Lethbridge.

For other parts of the province, this mid-latitude cyclone has prompted snowfall warnings, freezing rain warnings and even a rare snow squall watch!

As this low starts to move in to central Alberta, the associated cold front will send our temperatures in a downwards direction and also bring clouds and the possibility of wet flurries throughout the afternoon for Calgary.

Temperatures will continue to take a nosedive overnight and will not rally much on Friday with a high of -6 C.

Come Saturday and Sunday, we will only see highs get into the minus teens with lows in the minus 20s.

We finally start to get out of this systems icy clutches come Monday, and by Tuesday, long range models suggest temperatures could work their way back above seasonal.