Warm spell settles in for a long stay

An aerial image of downtown Edmonton, including the CN Tower, Epcor Tower, and home of the Edmonton Oilers, Rogers Place, on May 2, 2024. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

A broad upper ridge continues to dominate the weather pattern over western Canada with most areas getting sunny skies and warm temperatures.

• Hourly and 7-day forecast on our CTVNewsEdmonton.ca weather hub

In Edmonton and area, we’ll hit the low 20s this afternoon as we close out a cool month of April with some warmth.

Looking ahead to the month of May, daytime highs should consistently be in the mid to upper teens or low 20s.

So...the warmth is sticking around right through the first 10 to 15 days of the month.

It’s a fairly dry pattern for the next five or six days, with the exception of Friday.

There’s a low-pressure system that’ll ridge along the northern edge of the upper ridge just north of Alberta.

A cold front trailing that system will produce some showers in northwestern Alberta tonight and early Friday.

Then...scattered showers move through north-central and central Alberta Friday afternoon/evening.

Edmonton and area gets some increasing cloud cover Friday with a chance of some scattered showers late in the day.

We’ll also see the wind kick up across the province as the front slides through. Gusts will be in the 30 to 40 km/h range for most areas.

After that system goes through, we’re back to some sunshine for the weekend.

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Mainly sunny.

High: 22

Tonight - Clear.

9pm: 10

Friday - Morning sun. Increasing afternoon cloud. 30% chance of an evening shower.

Breezy. NW 15 gusting to 30 km/h.

Morning Low: 5

Afternoon High: 19

Saturday - Mainly sunny.

Morning Low: 3

Afternoon High: 18

Sunday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 6

Afternoon High: 21

Monday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: 7

Afternoon High: 15

Tuesday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 4

Afternoon High: 16