It was a cold Easter long weekend in Central Alberta.
With winter-like temperatures across the province, Red Deer broke two overnight low records Saturday and Sunday morning.
The below average temperatures are as a result of winds shifting north due to passing of a cold front.
On Sunday, Red Deer broke a 98-year-old record around 6 a.m. at -28.5 C. The last record set was in 1920 at -26.1 C.
The temperature plummeted to -22.8 C around 8 a.m. Saturday in Red Deer, breaking a 43-year-old record set in 1975 at -19.4 C.
Rocky Mountain House set a new overnight low record in 82 years Saturday morning, at -28.9 C. The previous record was in 1936 at -26.1 C.
Between Thursday and Friday, Red Deer saw about five centimetres of snow fall, while Rocky Mountain House received 10 cm.
Amanda Prysizney, decision support meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said other parts of the province like Grande Prairie and Pincher Creek also set new overnight lows over the weekend.
On Saturday morning, Pincher Creek set a new record of -21 C. The old record of -20.6 C was set in 1936.
In Grande Prairie, temperature hit -30 C breaking the old record of -26.7 C set in 1935.
Prysizney said Red Deerians should brace for another week of lower than seasonal temperatures.
She said the normal daytime high for this time of year is around 8 C. In the next five to six days, that high would be around -4 to -7 C.
For the overnight low, the normal temperature is around -4 C and Red Deer can expect that to be somewhere between -10 C and -18 C.
“It will be well below normal temperatures,” she said.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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