Josh Classen’s forecast: Warm for now, turning stormy Thursday

Warmest day of the week today... a change comes Thu before the temp drops.

The warm spell continues for today and Wednesday with afternoon temperatures a handful of degrees above zero.

Today’s forecast high of 6 is just two degrees off the record high for Jan 14 of 8.3 in 1942.

There are some showers pushing through NW Alberta early this morning (thankfully, temperatures are already several degrees above zero).

• Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts on all the top Edmonton stories

As that warm front moves ESE, we might see a shower in or near the Edmonton region midday.

NE Alberta may also get some showers or mixed precipitation this afternoon.

Edmonton gets to a high near 4 degrees Wednesday afternoon and temperatures will still be on the mild side Thursday.

BUT...it could be an ugly day with mixed precipitation and gusts in the 50-60 km/h range.

A strong area of low pressure will push across northern AB bringing snow from areas around High Level east towards For McMurray.

Further south, it’ll be a risk of some rain/snow mix for the Peace Country in the morning, turning to snow in the afternoon.

That band of mixed precip or showers hits the Edmonton region midday Thursday and then becomes a chance of snow for Thursday afternoon/evening and possibly into early Friday morning.

At this point, snowfall accumulation around the Edmonton area is fairly uncertain, but it’s looking like probably less than 5 cm.
Higher accumulations are anticipated in NE and NW Alberta by midday Friday.

Temperatures starting tumbling through the afternoon hours Thursday and we’ll drop to the -10 range by Friday.
Highs in the -15 to -20 range are expected for Sat/Sun.

That should be the bottom of the cold spell as temperatures rebound early next week and we’re likely in the 0 to -5 range for highs by Tue/Wed.

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Mix of sun & cloud. Slight risk of a shower midday.
High: 6

Tonight - Cloudy periods.
9pm: 2

Wednesday - Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: 0

Afternoon High: 4

Thursday - Mostly cloudy. 60% chance of midday showers turning to afternoon/evening snow.

Windy. NW 30 with gusts in the 50-60 km/h range.

Temperature falling in the afternoon.

Morning Low: -1

Noon: 2

5pm: -2

Friday - Mostly cloudy. 40% chance of flurries.

Morning Low: -12

Afternoon High: -10

Saturday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -21

Afternoon High: -18

Sunday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -23

Afternoon High: -18