March is typically the snowiest month for Red Deer, but that’s difficult to prove nowadays.
Sara Hoffman, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said snowfall data from 1981 to 2010 showed the city saw an average of 20.4 cm of snow in March, followed by January with 18.6 cm.
“March is far and above the snowiest month of the year,” said Hoffman, according to past data.
She said changes to weather observations in Canada means there is no longer an official, ongoing database of snowfall measurements. At the same time, the country has also experienced more dramatic weather — from droughts to floods.
“We are not resourced to take official snowfall measurements in communities in Canada. There are a few airports where the observers have volunteered to take snowfall measurements, but Red Deer is not one of them,” she said about the data that needs to be collected quickly after snow has fallen because the snowpack can quickly change.
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Hoffman said there is a method to measure how much water was in snowflakes, which can range from dense to fluffy, but it doesn’t record how much snow fell.
“We just don’t have the data to even know what would be the snowiest (period) moving forward and how that’s changing.”
She said snowmelt provides some basics on whether precipitation has been above or below normal, but snowfall measurements are necessary for snow clearing, drought analysis, river forecasters and more.
“Right now we’re depending on volunteer observations. There’s a network called C0CoRaHs (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network) that does report snowfall amounts. That gives us not widespread, or comprehensive (data), but at least a few rough ideas of snowfall amounts.”
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She said Red Deer had a very dry winter, and so far this spring, which started March 1 for climatologists, the city saw some precipitation on March 3 and 5.
A chance of flurries continues in the forecast until Friday, with temperatures five to 10 degrees below the daytime high of 1 C.
Hoffman said in early spring Red Deerians should always be prepared for the weather to quickly take a step backwards.
Red Deer had a wind warning on Monday with gusts from 50 to 90 km/h out of the northwest.
“Rapidly accumulating snow can happen pretty fast. Just because it may seem nice in the morning or afternoon when you’re heading out doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to stay that way,” she said.
“It’s going to be really important, especially in the month of March, to stay weather aware, and watching the skies.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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