October's weather reflected a trend that has held steady through much of 2024.
Last month, was both warmer and drier than usual – the 34th warmest and 38th driest in 110 years to be exact.
The mean temperature was 5.2 C, significantly higher than the average mean of 3.9 C. Only 11.4 mm of precipitation was recorded at Red Deer Regional Airport, just over half the 22.3 mm typical for the month, said Environment Canada and Climate Change meteorologist Brian Proctor.
"It wasn't exceptionally warm or exceptionally dry, but it was warm and dry."
October followed the fourth warmest September, 17th warmest August and third hottest July. June was more typical, although it was much wetter than usual.
May was a record breaker, going into the books as the hottest May in 110 years of record keeping.
"It's been a fairly dry year. We're really starting to see a transition to La Nina-like conditions," said Proctor. "We're sort of transitioning back to more normal late fall conditions.
"I would expect us to remaining near-normal from a temperature point of view and seeing a little bit of an up-trend in precipitation moving forward."
An El Nino system affected weather last winter. It began to wane about halfway through the year and a La Nina system is expected to take over.
"(La Nina systems) tend to be a bit cooler in Western Canada and there is better chance of precipitation with La Nina versus El Nino.
"It's not a particularly strong La Nina, but it is definitely trending that way. I would expect it to be trending towards normal or below-normal temperatures, but not tremendously below normal.
"We're definitely going to have a better chance of seeing snowfall, especially in the mountains, as we move forward into these kinds of conditions."
If the snowpack, which was low this year, increases along with spring runoff next spring, it will be good news for Alberta farmers, many of whom faced drought or near-drought conditions for most of this year.
Meanwhile, in the short term, it looks like Red Deer will continue to ease into winter.
A system that will cross the Rockies overnight is expected to bring a little rain or snow overnight Monday into Tuesday.
"I wouldn't expect to see tremendous accumulations," he said, adding much of the snow may melt on contact with the ground.
Red Deer temperatures are expected to peak later in the week, with 10 C forecast for Thursday and 12 C for Friday.
"Definitely, it looks like we're trending to a little warmer as we move towards Thursday or Friday."
The incoming snow prompted Environment Canada to issue a Special Weather Statement for Edmonton and area on Monday.
"The first accumulating snowfall of the season is expected Tuesday morning, with totals of two to five centimetres," says the statement.
"A low-pressure system moving through Alberta will bring wintry conditions to the capital region early Tuesday morning. Precipitation will likely begin as rain early Monday evening. There will be a brief risk of freezing rain before precipitation changes to snow later Monday night.
"Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions."
