Rain, snow, thunderstorm and tornado risk across Alberta for Thursday

Thursday will bring a wide variety of weather into Alberta.

In southern Alberta, instability will be enhanced as westerly flow across the Rockies encounters a dryline in southeastern Alberta.

This is likely to produce some localized intense thunderstorms and potentially a tornado east of Calgary and into southwesten Saskatchewan.

Calgary is likely to see isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening, but outside of localized heavier accumulations the rainfall should total five to 10 millimetres throughout the 24-hour period.

A series of low pressure systems will bring rain into northern Alberta with some models suggesting between 20 to 40 millimetres could fall over that region by Friday night. This will likely have a temporary positive impact on air quality in some communities, limiting the smoke to areas closer to source fires.

The fire danger relative index – an assessment which evaluates how easy it would be for a fire to start, how difficult it would be for a wildfire to be extinguished and the amount of damage a wildfire could produce - is showing low ratings in northern Alberta, something that has not happened for while.

Again, this is a relative index focusing on new fires and these ratings can change quickly – especially as the weather changes, but it is a small gain.

In southern Alberta, wind will be intense on Thursday in many communities and air masses interact, and temperatures will drop over the next few days. Snow is possible in higher elevations overnight throughout the weekend and advisories have been issued for higher elevation highways like Kootenay Pass in southern British Columbia.

In Calgary, both the daytime highs and overnight lows will be below seasonal this weekend. Rain is expected Friday and likely to be scattered on Saturday and Sunday, with sunshine more prevalent on Monday.