Cloudy and freezing drizzle to start 2026 for Calgary

Daily highs will be brought back toward seasonal (around -3 C) for the first five days of the year. Then, we could see another chinook...

Calgarians will be able to ring in the new year without bone-chilling temperatures.

Chinook winds that began earlier this week have helped the city end 2025 on an above-seasonal note, with a high of 9 C for Calgary on Wednesday and a mix of sun and cloud.

The evening will be mainly clear for the most part, with temperatures around freezing by midnight.

It will be early Thursday morning when more moisture-laden clouds move in and remain over Calgary for several days.

This is due to the positioning of the jet stream, which is currently in a ridge setup over central Alberta.

The jet stream can be viewed as the barrier between warm, moist air and cold, dry air, which is creating hazardous driving conditions for the capital region and surrounding areas.

Yellow-level (moderate risk) freezing rain warnings and fog advisories have been issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and similar warnings could pop up for regions in southern Alberta by tomorrow morning as the jet stream moves south.

If you do have travel plans on New Year’s Day, especially east or north of Calgary, make sure to take it slow and give yourself extra driving time with the potential for slippery conditions on the roads.

The moving jet stream will also influence our temperatures, bringing highs back toward seasonal (around -3 C) for the first five days of the year.

Then, on Jan. 6, models suggest another chinook could move temperatures back into the positives.