Get ready, Alberta – winter weather is back.
After a relatively mild start to 2023 and more recently, more than a week of sub-zero temperatures, Old Man Winter is about to plunge the countryside back into a deep freeze.
A polar vortex is expanding from the Arctic and will bring a much colder air mass to the south starting Thursday night and continuing through the weekend.
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“We’ve been above 0 C for the past eight days in a row, but highs are expected to be over 20 C colder by the weekend as we’ve been well into the minus double digits for almost a week,” said Global Edmonton meteorologist Jesse Beyer.
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The polar vortex is a mass of frozen air that exists year-round and usually rotates clockwise over the North Pole. As it weakens, the circulation can be disturbed and split – sending part south to spread cold temperatures over parts of North America.
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After a cold December, the Edmonton area has been spoiled so far this year with just one day below average in the first 26 days of January.
By Thursday evening, parts of northern Alberta were already seeing minus double digits.
Beyer said significant cold winds will return to the Edmonton area Thursday night into Friday. The change in weather will also bring snow.
“We’re also likely to get 2 to 5 inches of snow in our city as cold air migrates south,” Beyer said.
Environment Canada said Friday in Edmonton that the temperature will drop to about -11 C in the afternoon. With a cool wind, it will be felt until -7 in the morning and -19 in the afternoon.
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Overnight from Friday to Saturday, the Met Office said wind chills would make it feel close to -30 and there would be a risk of frost.
Cold air will also sweep across southern Alberta and the Calgary area.
“Saturday and Sunday will see that colder air arrive with highs around the minus teens and wind chills around minus 20 degrees,” Global Calgary meteorologist Daniel Savoni said.
“Because of our current warm air mass, this will help moderate the polar air as it moves in.”
“So it’s going to get a lot colder, but the cold temperatures we’re used to seeing in Calgary at the end of January!”
Beyer said the cold snap will continue into next week, but temperatures could return to average by the end of next week.
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1:42 Alberta’s yo-yo temperatures are literally a headache for many
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