Merry — no wait — happy October.
Snow accumulations in Red Deer will likely reach more than 10 cm by the time it stops falling Tuesday night.
“Since yesterday we’ve had about eight cm since it started last night and today we’re expecting about five with snow ending later this evening,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Alysa Pederson Tuesday.
She said the system developed in British Columbia.
“There is a whole bunch of cold air from the Yukon and Northwest Territories that has come down. It’s met with a system that is actually spinning off the coast, further south into the States, that’s bringing a bunch of warm air up into the province.”
Those air masses were meeting up through Nordegg, Jasper and down through Calgary and Lethbridge, she said.
About 15 to 30 cm of snow was expected in the Nordegg area, but 45 cm was possible in the mountains and under the more intense snow bands.
“Pretty much everywhere south of Edmonton, you’re getting a whole bunch of banded snow. Calgary has gotten about 30 cm of snow today so far. It’s quite a large weather system.”
Pederson said snow at this time of year in Alberta is more frequent that most people would think.
“Typically we have usually one or two snow events in September, and then in October the cold air comes in a little bit more and it’s a little more frequent.
“For the prairies, especially in Alberta, our biggest snow months are October, November and March, April, May. The actual winter months December, January, February, typically see less snow than in the surrounding seasons.”
With forecast highs still above zero this week, the snow should not last too long on the ground, she said.
“The snow is not going to be melting very quickly, but it should probably be melted by the end of the weekend.”
Flurries are possible on Thursday in Red Deer, but there will be no big system moving through, Pederson said.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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