Powerful winter storm to hit Alberta Thursday

The warm spell will come to an end with a bang on Thursday as an intense cold front will sweep across Alberta bringing snow, mixed precipitation and powerful wind gusts to many areas.

The heaviest snow will be in northern Alberta and snowfall warnings are in effect for areas from High Level southeast to Fort McMurray. In general, 15-25cm of snow is expected through that region.

Snow squall watch in Edmonton area

Edmonton and surrounding areas are under a snow squall watch.

That advisory also includes areas to the west and northwest: Edson, Hinton, Whitecourt, and Grande Prairie.

Snow squalls are intense, short-lived “blizzard-like” conditions.

It’s important to note that snow squalls can be very localized. So, anyone travelling in that watch zone Thursday should check conditions along their entire planned route before heading out.

Snowfall amounts aren’t expected to be overly significant (less than 5 cm in most areas), but wind gusts of 50 to 80 km/h are likely throughout the day Thursday.

The strongest gusts are expected to be in the morning for northwest Alberta and then midday and early afternoon for the Edmonton region. Gusts in the 50-60 km/h range could persist right through into the evening hours for Edmonton.

As the system develops, the watch may be upgraded to a warning for some areas on Thursday.

Further south, a wind warning is in place for southwest Alberta as gusts are forecast to reach 100 km/h.