Calgary gets another blast of winter weather this weekend

Calgary's skyline can be seen on a cold winter evening.

UPDATE: The models are in. I'm not budging, but I'll add an asterisk. 10--15 cm is still the region we're aiming for in Calgary, but Calgary will likely fall on the cusp of a heavier region, where that 20 cm marker is very much within sight. There's a chance this band of snow sags that far south before it continues the journey east-southeastward. For spots in Alberta to get a snowfall warning, we need to see 10+ cm of snow falling in 12 hours or less. There's a chance for that too, to the north or west of our city.

The cold weather trend continues, but the light at the end of a chilly tunnel is starting to reveal more for Wednesday, as opposed to before, where it was stuck in the cold. Our wind and temperature combinations will push wind chills to the minus 30s.

 

 

The trough swinging down from the Polar Regions extends well into the US, and has us set up under northwesterly flow for the day – the key word there will most certainly be "north."

Following morning flurries, we'll get some afternoon sunshine and a slowly-rising temperature.

The trend will continue through the night and into Saturday morning, where gusts will hit the 40 to 50 km/h marker overnight. Later in the day, we hit our last high above 5 C for a while. Then… things take a turn.

A low from the far northwest slings itself into northern Alberta. The cold front from this activates a number of features; strong gusts along the southern foothills regions, with a possibility of brief thunderstorms – that's a lot of instability! Gusts in the southwest may peak into warning criteria. And lastly: snow. And plenty of it. Calgary still aligns with Thursday's look at 10 to 15 centimeters, half of which will fall before Sunday morning. The remainder will carry out through the day Sunday and into Monday.

Beyond, the cold air mass will linger, not letting up until at least Thursday of next week. Bundle up, and take a solid amount of extra time, especially for that Sunday drive.

Your five-day forecast:

Tonight

• Evening: some cloud, low -3 C

Saturday

• Building cloud, evening snow
• Daytime high: 9 C
• Evening: snow, low -15 C

Sunday

• Snow
• Daytime high: -15 C
• Evening: some cloud, low -22 C

Monday

• AM flurries, partly cloudy
• Daytime high: -18 C
• Evening: some cloud, low -24 C

Tuesday

• Sunny
• Daytime high: -13 C
• Evening: clear, low -17 C

Wednesday

• Partly cloudy
• Daytime high: -5 C
• Evening: some cloud, low -9 C

Our picture of the day for Friday was taken by Sharon. It shows a lovely sun pillar, which forms when ice crystals are positioned just right and reflect the sun's rays vertically.

A photo of a sun pillar submitted by CTV News viewer Sharon. (supplied) You can submit your photos here, email me here, or tweet them over! We’re also freshly minted on Instagram and waiting on a few approvals before daily posts pop up there: @CTVCalgaryWeather.