More than 20 locations in Alberta set new daytime high records Wednesday

Warm and sunny February day in Calgary. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

A dominant ridge of high pressure pushed temperatures well above seasonal on Wednesday across most of Alberta.

More than 20 locations set new daytime high records with many locations keeping records since the 1880s.

The hot spot in all of Canada was Lethbridge with a high of 20.6 C – however that was not one of the new records set on Feb. 4:

• The Brooks area reached 18.5 C on Wednesday; the old record of 11.7 C was set in 1964;
• The Medicine Hat area hit 17.9 C; the old record of 15.7 C was set in 1992;
• The Pincher Creek area reached 16.1 C; the old record of 13.9 C was set in 1963; and
• The Waterton Park area reached 15.2 C; the old record of 13.9 C was set in 2009.

Other areas that set new maximum temperature records for Feb. 4 include (but are not limited to) Rocky Mountain House, Edmonton, Cold Lake, Stony Plain, Jasper and Fort McMurray.

In Calgary, the unofficial high on Wednesday was 16.2 C – which did not exceed the old record of 16.2 C.

Those mid-teen temperatures will continue into the weekend as a cold air mass in central Canada sinks further toward the Gulf.

More records are likely to be broken on Thursday, especially in southern Alberta.

Calgary’s is expected to reach 16 C, but the record high for the city for Feb. 5 is 17. 4 C set in 1984.

Visibility was compromised through the B.C. interior early Thursday morning and a yellow-level fog advisory was issued from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), with the weather agency noting, “Near zero visibility in fog is expected.”

The fog will likely last until the early afternoon.

A yellow-level freezing rain warning was also issued for areas along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border due to the risk of ice accruing on surfaces like roads and sidewalks.

ECCC explained “Freezing rain warnings are issued when rain falling in sub-zero temperatures creates ice build-up and icy surfaces.”

The next chance of precipitation in Calgary will be on Saturday afternoon with a very slight chance of light and scattered rain.

A significant amount of moisture will start to hammer the B.C. coastline late Friday before tracking west to east through the province.

At the same time the ridge of high pressure will begin to flatten – introducing cooler air into B.C. and Alberta.

As that moisture-laden air mass encounters the cold and dry one from the north mixed precipitation will form – especially in the higher elevations.

That modified system will cross over the Rockies on Sunday, and Calgary could see some light and mixed precipitation late Sunday and early Monday – however accumulations will decrease closer to the QEII and Highway 2 South.

Daytime highs in Calgary will start to moderate early next week with highs around 3 C and lows of -1 C to -4 C.

The normal high in Calgary this time of year is -1 C with a low of -13 C.