Big change this weekend including rain, snow, and gusty cold winds

Oh snow! Wintry weather could brush Calgary. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

Friday will be one of the last really warm days for a while.

The northern edge of a ridge of high pressure remains over the southern prairie border and will produce one more day of stability for southern Alberta.

That ridge will begin to be pushed to the east as a distinct trough enters the region starting Friday.

A few low-pressure systems will sit within that trough across B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan allowing cold air the funnel toward the southern border of the prairies enhancing local instability.

Gusty northwest winds will be one of the first signs of this weather pattern shift on Saturday, as well as rain transitioning to snow throughout the day.

The bulk of precipitation will fall on Saturday in Calgary with the heaviest accumulations expected along the span of the foothills.

Around Calgary most of that snow will melt on contact on non-vegetative surfaces like roads, parking lots, and sidewalks due to their lower albedo (the higher amount of heat that is absorbed by darker materials).

But if the system stalls out there is a chance of higher snowfall totals, which would impact road conditions.

In the higher elevations some accumulation is possible and visibility may be compromised under that combination of stronger wind and precipitation.

Sunday’s high of 0 C in Calgary will occur fairly early in the day, and the high on Monday is expected to remain around the freezing mark.

The normal range in Calgary this time of year is 14 C for a high and 1 C for a low.