Calgary begins a stretch of below-seasonal temperatures

Layers will be an absolute must for many Albertans this weekend as an arctic air mass envelops much of the province.

On Friday, Calgarians woke up to a temperature of -17 C, with strong northerly winds at 30-50 km/h making it feel more like -32.

While the winds will ease up later this morning, it will continue to feel bitterly cold with a high of -16 C and a windchill of -25.

If you have travel plans today northeast of the city, it would be best to wait until the afternoon to head out if possible.

Several blowing snow advisories and wind warnings were issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada for the morning hours but those warnings are expected to lift as the winds lighten later in the morning.

A ridge of high pressure starts to set up nicely on Saturday, which will keep our conditions stable with on and off clouds throughout the weekend with maybe the occasional flurry.

However, Alberta will remain on the cold side of the ridge until Tuesday, where we finally will get back towards seasonal temperatures for the rest of the week.