Wednesday morning temperatures more than 20 degrees warmer than normal lows

Warm westerly winds really intensified late Tuesday and continued into Wednesday morning.

Peak gusts on Tuesday night were over 60 km/h and temperatures jumped up to 9 C around 9 p.m.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, the air temperature in Calgary was 6 C, which exceeds a normal daytime high this time of year, and surpasses the average overnight low by 21 degrees.

On a typical day across the mid-latitudes, the coldest temperatures of the day occur overnight under the absence of incoming solar radiation.

In Calgary, the average overnight low this time of year is -15 C, with a daytime high of -3 C.

The western edge of an exiting surface low across Saskatchewan is introducing cooler air from the northwest to southeast corners of Alberta.

Where the aforementioned westerly flow has caught up to the Saskatchewan low, rain and mixed precipitation have formed.

More mixed precipitation is likely in the region throughout the day Wednesday, before transitioning to snow later in the evening.

A dominant high pressure system situated over B.C. and the western half of Alberta will create windy conditions for the southwest corner of the province today.

Sustained west winds of 20 to 30 km/h are expected in Calgary Wednesday with gusts of 40 to 50 km/h until early evening, and this pattern is expected to continue.

Both daytime highs and overnight lows in the region will be much warmer than average for the next five to seven days.

Snow melt will be amplified under sunny conditions along with westerly flow across the foothills.

Given that it is January, most surfaces have a low capacity to absorb water, thus a freeze-thaw cycle will prevail making some surfaces icy, especially early in the day.

The precipitation is expected across central and southern Alberta on Friday, including in Calgary.

Depending on the timing, rain is likely to precede snow, which could create poor driving conditions in and around the city.