Calgary (Rural Roots Canada) – It will be another warm, dry week across the prairies, as El Nino conditions continue to dominate the weather pattern in western Canada.    Storms will track well to the north, in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut through Sunday.  With the lack of storms across the prairies, it will be warm, dry, and we’ll lose some snow cover.   The sky will remain mainly clear across the southern prairies through Wednesday afternoon, when cloud begins to build in Alberta and Manitoba.  A chinook arch is expected to form in the lee of the Alberta Rockies Thursday afternoon, and stick around for about 24 hours.   By the weekend, 90% of the prairies will be under cloud cover. Overall, it will be warm.  The map shows expected temperatures mid-afternoon Wednesday.

Courtesy:  ECCC

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Alberta:

It will be a dry week, with a chance of snow Wednesday and Thursday in the north, including High Level and the Peace region.  Amounts under 5 cm.   Over the next 10 days, snow accumulations on the ground are expected to decrease across central and southern Alberta, due to the warm weather.  The greatest disappearance of snow will happen between Calgary and Fort Macleod, from Edmonton to Stettler, and From Lethbridge to Montana.

That said, we’re watching for the possibility of snow Sunday Feb 4, south of Calgary and west of Medicine Hat, along with strong wind gusts in the Waterton/Pincher Creek area.   It’s so far into the future, though, that confidence is low.

Saskatchewan

It will be a dry week across Saskatchewan.  With no new precipitation, a sunny sky, and warm weather, snow accumulations will decrease over the next 10 days in the Lloydminster, Saskatoon, and Yorkton areas.

Manitoba

Overall, it will be dry in Manitoba as well, with less than 1 cm of snow possible Thursday over Lake Manitoba, NE to Berens River, and south to the US border, including Portage La Prairie.   Snow cover will increase this week from the Nunavut boundary south to Gillam.  In the south, there will be a decrease in snow cover around Brandon and Dauphin, and in a line from Lake Winnipeg through Steinbach, to the Minnesota border.

Elsewhere:

Wet weather continues on the west coast until next weekend.  There is potential for 20 cm of snow on the northern BC coast this week, with 75 mm of rain Tuesday to Thursday on the southern BC coast.