Lethbridge to see cold temperatures after warm stretch

LETHBRIDGE -

Plenty of people have been outside over the past several days, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.

But that will soon change, with temperatures plunging Tuesday to below 0 C overnight and getting close to -20 C into early next week.

"We're expecting that frontal structure to sweep through most of the Prairies. So you should see a change in your weather as early as tomorrow. The temperatures will not be nearly as warm," said Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The quick change between hot and cold won't do any favours for the city's roads -- freeze-thaw cycles are a major cause of potholes.

"It has a significant impact, especially when there's already small cracks in the road. It could become worse from that water infiltrating and creating that push off the asphalt that creates those potholes," said Juliane Ruck, transportation manager for the City of Lethbridge.

If you plant before a cold snap, there are steps you can take to help protect your garden.

"If you do plant stuff earlier, which could be tempting sometimes, with the warmer weather, you might just have to throw some frost blankets or some mulch onto some of those plants if we do run into cooler nights," said Dustin Napper, a horticulturist a Green Haven Garden Centre.

The upcoming cold could also have some benefits.

Much of southern Alberta will get snow this week, which could help to refill the dryer-than-average reservoirs.

Lethbridge could see up to 20 centimetres of snow.

"We were originally thinking somewhere between 15 and 30 centimetres in the foothills, so areas west of Calgary," Hasell said.

Warmer-than-average temperatures are expected in the first couple weeks of April, but there could still be more snow up until May.