Slushy roads and slippery sidewalks as freeze-thaw cycle continues

Warm westerly winds provided a boost in temperatures for communities along the Alberta foothills, including Calgary, where it hit 9 C as early as 5 a.m.

Normal overnight lows for the city are just below -12 C.

The combination of sunshine, west winds, plus warmer mean temperatures, are accelerating the melting process across the region including in Calgary.

Snow-covered side streets have become slushy and ice is forming on some sidewalks, pathways and parking lots. This freeze-thaw cycle will continue for the start of the weekend, before cooler air moves in to Alberta on Saturday.

Snow forming in the Cariboo region and the northern B.C. interior Friday will track in to north and central Alberta on Saturday.

With the warmer air and warmer surface temperatures currently across most of Alberta, that snow is likely to fall as rain initially before it transitions to mixed precipitation and then snow late Saturday. The timing and intensity of that precipitation could cause conditions to rapidly deteriorate across the capital region.

Locally, Calgary could see some light precipitation on Saturday and Sunday and daytime highs will briefly dip below freezing before returning to the mid single digits by the middle of next week.