More snow possible in Calgary by the end of the week, with highs of 0 C

Calgary will see some wet weather over the next few days. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

Weather in Calgary on Tuesday will be very similar to Sunday and Monday, with daytime highs well above seasonal – including some locations that will reach the high 20s.

While it will feel like summer to start the week, this warmth will quickly be replaced by very unsettled conditions as central and southern Alberta serve as the meeting point for two opposing air masses.

Warm Pacific air funneling in under a ridge of high pressure has been the driving force for the recent warmth.

Moisture within that air mass will become more organized as the week continues, eventually turning into persistent rain in central and southern Alberta.

That rain will slam into a cold air mass, tracking across the province from northwest to southeast on Wednesday.

Strong wind and bands of heavy rain will emerge as the initial signs of this changing pattern, and eventually, as rain falls through a colder atmospheric profile, rain will transition to snow.

Portions of central and southern Alberta could see brief periods of freezing rain and/or snow grains before it turns to heavy, wet snow.

Calgary is likely to see some rain, mixed precipitation and snow, but there is also a chance the city might not be as impacted as some surrounding communities.

The uncertainty in forecasting precipitation type and totals per location lies in the synoptic setup, because this is another scenario highly dependent on where the initial low-pressure system sets up east of the Rockies – and how other systems impact it – similar to recent weather events where the counterclockwise rotation of a low can get trapped against the Rockies.

What is becoming more certain is what will happen after this system leaves Alberta, as anchoring high-pressure systems are likely to create a meteorological “perfect storm” allowing rapid intensification over the eastern Prairies.

Heavy amounts of precipitation are possible across southeastern Alberta, most of Saskatchewan and the west/central portions of Manitoba by the end of the week.

In the wake of this disturbance Calgary will remain cold with daytime highs peaking at around 0 C from Friday until Sunday.

The normal range of temperatures in Calgary by the end of the week include daily highs of 13 C and lows of 0 C.

Warm surface temperatures will cause most of the initial snow to melt, but if there is a stalling out over certain regions, conditions could become quite hazardous in a short period of time with blowing snow limiting visibility and allowing ice to form on wet roads and sidewalks.

Typical of Spring there will be another warmup in the wake and by the middle of next week Calgary should return to seasonal temperatures.