Warm up starts Thursday with temps 6 to 13 degrees warmer than average

A reset on an unusual weather pattern will bring more moderate conditions for southern Alberta starting Thursday.

Evidence of this was already present as of 6 a.m. Thursday with temperatures in communities along the foothills (e.g. Banff and Pincher Creek) between 13 and 19 degrees warmer than Calgary and Lethbridge.

Westerly winds, sunshine and above seasonal temperatures will persist until Christmas.

Daytime highs in Calgary are forecast to range from 4 C to 6 C, compared to average highs of -2 C, and overnight lows are expected to reach values as warm as -1 C compared to the average low of -14 C.

Melting is expected to be amplified due to the evaporative properties of Chinook winds, which may cause certain surfaces to become icy due to the associated freeze-thaw cycle.

While it is early to forecast with confidence, at this point it seems unlikely Calgary will have an official white Christmas (at least two centimetres of snow on the ground at 7 a.m. Dec. 25), and even less likely there will be a “perfect Christmas” with both snow on the ground and falling snow at 7 a.m. local time.

Environment and Climate Change Canada will release their official predictions for a white Christmas today.