2 more days of strong wind in southern Alberta

CALGARY -

While B.C. is yet again aligned for heavy rainfall, our local conditions remain warm, dry, and windy. Gusts are possible in the triple digits along portions of the foothills:

130 km/h!? Yes, you read that right. Tall vehicles run the risk of being overturned along north-south routes, especially.

While Crowsnest has reported a gust at 80 km/h, the Nakiska Ridgetop doubled up and hit 161 km/h at 4 o'clock this morning – though because the Ridgetop is at 2500m elevation, wind speeds will always be wildly enhanced there. That's some category-2 hurricane stuff.

This evening's gusts will prove the most treacherous for travel along those routes.

Another thing from yesterday. I mentioned early strong gusts for the first of December… I steered clear, however, of mentioning the occasional "odd duck" forecast model that plotted for us to scream into the mid-teens for the early hours. You know, because that would be ridiculous. Things change, and here we go!

Calgary could see gusts well into the 60s or 70s for the waking hours tomorrow, dying off near the lunch hour, as even more forecast models are verifying the idea. This will give us a daytime high in the low-to-mid teens. By the mid-to-late afternoon, we're back to single digits with a shot at rain showers, and by the evening, to quote one of my favourite fictional scientists, "Life, ah, finds a way," and we’re into a period of wet snow for Thursday. Both of these events are, at this time, expected to provide minimal quantities of precipitation.

 

UPDATED WRITING: I keep waiting for this to drop off, and it keeps... not dropping off. The daytime high comes early. Then, we trend down. THEN, we cool off.

We fall in with closer-to-normal temps from there, as previously forecast temperatures in the negative single-digits are largely whisked away by merit of the extra energy our first day of meteorological winter provides.

It was a sad state today during Weather in the Classroom (still on by the way, for a Grade 5 class near you!), when a kid asked me: "When will we see snow?" While lighter totals are still in the forecast and I'll address that through the 5 & 6 today, but the short answer is: not quite yet.

YOUR FIVE-DAY FORECAST:

Your five-day:

Tonight:

• Plenty of cloud
• Overnight low: 7 C

Tomorrow:

• Early gusts, morning high of 15, then light rain showers midday
• Daytime high: 7 C
• Evening: cloudy, chance for evening flurries, low -3

Thursday:

• Mainly cloudy, chance of afternoon flurries
• Daytime high: 4 C
• Evening: cloudy periods, low -12 C

Friday:

• Partly cloudy
• Daytime high: -2 C
• Evening: cloudy periods, low -9 C

Saturday:

• Partly cloudy
• Daytime high: -3 C
• Evening: cloudy periods, low -10 C

Sunday:

• Partly cloudy
• Daytime high: -2 C
• Evening: cloudy periods, low -8 C

The photo of the day yesterday takes the cake today; the Glenmore Reservoir froze over and Tab got a great shot of it. Thanks, Tab!

You can submit your photos here, email me here, or tweet them over!