Break out the shovels, winter is coming fast
After a spring-like early December, winter is coming for Calgary.
A snowfall warning is in effect for the city and surrounding areas, with upwards of 25 centimetres expected to fall, starting Tuesday.
And while that means shovelling is in the cards this week, a white Christmas is just around the corner, say meteorologists.
A low-pressure system is expected to move into Washington state on Tuesday morning, bringing heavy snow to much of southern Alberta.
“Snow will begin Tuesday morning in western regions and spread eastward in the Lethbridge and Brooks regions in the afternoon,” Environment Canada states. “In the Brooks region, heavier amounts will fall in western areas like Strathmore and Vulcan. Heavy snow will continue through Wednesday before it tapers off Wednesday evening.”
Snowfall warnings are issued when more than 10 cm are expected to fall in 12 hours.
Calgary is expected to get 15 to 25 cm of snow by Wednesday night. A winter storm warning is in effect for the Pincher Creek, Cardston and Kananaskis regions, which could get 25 to 40 cm.
A snowfall warning is also in effect for Cochrane, High River and Okotoks, where 15 to 25 cm of snow by Wednesday evening is in the forecast.
Calgary broke a record for warmth on Dec. 9, hitting a high of 15 C that cracked the historical high of 14 set more than a century ago in 1890.
“Certainly, the whole month of December for Calgary was above normal,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Kulak.
“There was only one day in the first 17 where the high stayed below zero,” he said, adding seven of those days reached the double digits, temperature-wise.
Kulak said the forecast for the next seven days, following the snowfall, includes below average temperatures for this time of year in southern Alberta.
“The weather pattern that we had was bringing the storm track well to the north of Calgary,” he said. “When the storms are that far to the north, we get winds off of the Pacific which are warmer winds. When the storm track slumps southwards through us, you get the snow like we’re getting today, basically.”
The City of Calgary has its crews ready to go and is preparing in case reinforcements are necessary, said Bill Biensch, manager of roads maintenance.
“It won’t be until we actually start to see the snowfall and have a better understanding of what the total snowfall will be that we’ll call additional staff in,” said Biensch, who said no road closures are expected.
He said the city typically applies liquids, either sodium chloride or liquid calcium chloride for lower temperatures, to roadways before snowfalls.
“If we apply a liquid, then as soon as the snow begins to fall, there’s some type of improvement to the road surface immediately,” he said. “It also does not allow snow to then stick to the road and freeze hard to our road surface because there is that chemical layer.”
Drivers should take precautions, such as giving themselves extra time to reach their destinations and checking Calgary.ca/snow regularly for updates, Biensch said.
While temperatures earlier this month were unusually high, the seasonal forecast actually suggested a “cooler and wetter than normal” December-February period, said Kulak. That wasn’t the case during the first half of December, but he said that prediction could still be on track for the next two months.
For now though, Calgarians should expect a cold, snowy holiday.
“It looks like probably a white Christmas,” Kulak said.