CALGARY -- Over the coming days, the ridge of high pressure is going to sink through British Columbia and flatten to make room for a trough. This process is going to take about three days, and each of those days will be different for Calgary.

The ridge is going to start by delving us into the negatives and keeping us there today, under conditions that will feel like a mild Arctic high. We'll have plenty of sun, because the cooler air mass is going to help waft potential cloud away. Surface wind will be light and westerly, which makes for a seasonal day.

Tomorrow, when that ridge flattens out, it opens us to some westerly wind crossing the foothills. The long odd bet for today is that the next weather warning we see in the province comes through for the "usual suspects" along the southwestern foothills: wind warnings are likely. That westerly wind will prop temperatures in the middling positive single digits.

Then, we get a wave of instability that, for the next two days, will inundate B.C. with snow. Our turn hits Friday, with snowfall expected to start in the early afternoon and roll through at an off-and-on tilt until Saturday morning. The early prognosis is that we're in for four to seven centimetres of snow by the end of the event. Saturday will have a little bite to it, but this snow should be perfect for outdoor play.

And so we end with the adage: "if you don't like the weather in Calgary, give it a day."

Here's the five-day forecast:

Today:

  • Mainly sunny
  • Daytime high: 0 C
  • Evening: building cloud, low -5 C

Thursday:

  • Partly cloudy, windy! Gusts in the 50 km/h range
  • Daytime high: 5 C
  • Evening: some cloud, low -4 C

Friday:

  • Afternoon snow showers
  • Daytime high: -1 C
  • Evening: more snow, low -11 C

Saturday:

  • AM flurries
  • Daytime high: -6 C
  • Evening: some cloud, low -7 C

Sunday:

  • Partly cloudy
  • Daytime high: 3 C
  • Evening: some cloud, low -2 C

Two pictures today: one with recency factored and the other from the Monday storm!

First, Candy sent in a great shot of a sunset taken at the Oldman River in Lethbridge:

Lethbridge, Oldman River, Candy

Second, the shelf cloud, as captured by Crystal and Blake from the Feb. 22 storm.

shelf cloud, Crystal, Blake, southern Alberta,

You can submit your weather photos here, or email me here! Kevin Stanfield