The rest of this week will include unsettled weather for central and southern Alberta. Cooler air flowing in from the north will slam into a series of disturbances entering Alberta from the south. Daytime highs will continue to fall until reaching the low double digits Thursday, and persistent rain is expected – especially in the corridor between Highway 3 and south of Red Deer. Yellow-level rainfall warnings have been issued for the southwest corner of Alberta with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) saying an area of rainfall is expected to develop Wednesday and continue into Thursday, with total rainfall amounts of 50 to 80 mm likely through early Friday morning. Calgary will get some rain this week, but the totals should be much lower – closer to 10 mm on Wednesday and up to 20 mm on Thursday. There is the potential for some thunderstorm activity in southern Alberta again on Wednesday, but most areas are not at risk for severe storm development. Where thunderstorms do form, the greatest threats include larger-sized hail, strong winds and isolated pockets of heavy rain. Wildfire smoke continues to impact British Columbia, and both orange- and yellow-level air qualities have been issued for the southern portion of the province. There will be some rain in the southeastern portion of the province by the end of the week, but the bulk of precipitation on Wednesday is likely going to be on the Alberta side of the Rockies. Convective activity is still a concern for these vulnerable areas, especially if there is lightning without a lot of precipitation. Heavier rain and cooler weather is expected by the end of the week. As of 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, a yellow-level severe thunderstorm watch had been issued for Kootenay Lake and the East Kootenay region, including Cranbrook.
