CALGARY -- Yesterday's cold front swung in right at the dinner hour, as expected, producing gusts in the 30s across the greater Calgary area directly from the north, and plunging temperatures in its wake. But, as we've been saying all week long, it doesn't last. It doesnt even really have the staying-power to kick us down for a full day!
After a chilly morning, we're set up perfectly for chinook wind through today, tomorrow, and Sunday, with predominant westerly wind, and the ensuing conditions that come with that. It doesn't bode well for keeping snow on the ground, but we'll be back into a trough as the advent calendar lightens up, producing a few centimetres of snow on the approach to Dec.25th.
For a good bit through Saturday and Sunday, our pals in British Columbia will see their precipitation falter; as that's a key component of a strong chinook wind, we'll see the wave of cloud vanish a few times, translating to mainly sunny conditions more than once in our five-day forecast.
However: the longer-range forecast trend is dichotomous: on one branch, we see temperatures rising well into melting territory and offering a brown Christmas; on the other, we'll fluctuate between 1 C and 3 C leading up to Dec. 25, which won't be warm enough to melt us away from a white Christmas, instead.
It'll be something to focus on leading into next week!
Here's the five-day forecast:
Today:
- Partly cloudy, chinook
- Daytime high: 3 C
- Evening: some cloud, low -1 C
Saturday:
- Mainly sunny
- Daytime high: 5 C
- Evening: mainly clear, low 0 C
Sunday:
- Mainly sunny
- Daytime high: 7 C
- Evening: some cloud, low -3 C
Monday:
- The Winter Solstice
- Mainly sunny
- Daytime high: 1 C
- Evening: snow showers, low -6 C
Tuesday:
- Snow, ~5 cm early
- Daytime high: -4 C
- Evening: some cloud, low -6 C
Today's photos are amazing. First, a huge thanks to James for capturing the beginnings of the Great Conjunction, which takes place Dec. 21st! Those bright "stars" are Jupiter and Saturn!
And then thanks to Paul, for at last confirming that Tara Nelson is related to a Disney princess.
You can submit your weather photos here, or email me here! Kevin Stanfield
