Another wet weather system approaching Alberta

There have been many Calgarians questioning when the usual August weather will actually arrive, considering it has felt a little cooler and wetter so far this summer compared to recent years.

When it comes to temperatures, Calgary is well within the seasonal range for the next little while, now we just need the sun to co-operate.

Unfortunately, we likely won’t see that idyllic summer day until Saturday, it looks like, and we will have to put up with more rain first.

A powerful low-pressure system along the Saskatchewan/U.S. border was the influencer of our active weather along the foothills on Tuesday.

As the picture shows, a surface high-pressure cell was sitting over the B.C. Rockies on Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s the thing with high-pressure winds: they like to move toward centres of low pressure.

So what happened Tuesday is the winds over the Rockies are being pulled toward the Saskatchewan low, and given the steep contrast in terrains, this created a bunch of pulse thunderstorms in the foothills.

Cochrane saw one of those storms develop into a supercell around 4 p.m., bringing a downpour of rain and small-sized hail.

Calgary could also be in the line of fire when it comes to active weather throughout the evening, too, though conditions start to calm down overnight.

Wednesday is shaping up to be pretty similar to Tuesday, with a sunny morning followed by building clouds in the afternoon with the potential for some early evening thunderstorms, though the risk appears to be lower on Wednesday.

Our next weather-maker comes in the form of an upper low-pressure system that will create a trough over southern Alberta late Thursday into Friday.

Expect cloudy conditions for much of southern Alberta and rainfall totals currently estimated between five and 10 millimetres, though that’s subject to change as this system gets closer and we get a better idea of its movement.

And then at last, Saturday should bring the start of some stable and sunny weather that should please many Calgarians who have been yearning for some hot summer sunshine.