Snow not done yet as another 10 to 20 cm expected by Saturday

Road conditions in southern Alberta rapidly deteriorated again Thursday after more snow fell.

This same system prompted snowfall warnings for southern British Columbia as moisture moving in to the Kootenays from the south was met with a persistent colder air mass from the north.

As of 7:30 a.m., both City of Calgary traffic cameras and 511 Alberta cameras showed snow-covered routes.

The provincial agency was also reporting many area highways were snow and ice-covered.

That cooler air mass will remain over the western Prairies for at least another five days suppressing temperatures. In Calgary daytime highs will range from -10 C to -13 C until early next week.

The normal daytime high this time of year is 1 C with an average low of -10 C.

Windchill values will make it feel around -14 to -20 for most of the next few days, and morning windchill values will be in the mid minus 20s.

Thursday’s snow will taper off early in the day but another good blast of snow will start up again on Friday and continue through Saturday afternoon as a low pressure system enters central Alberta.

The counter-clockwise rotation around this low will lead to highly variable snowfall totals along the foothills and in southern Alberta, but there is good evidence that totals between 10 to 20 centimetres are reasonable – with potentially more in some areas.