CALGARY – The age-old adage “if you don’t like the weather in Alberta, wait five minutes,” proved true this weekend.
On Friday, there were 21 new heat records set in British Columbia and six set in Alberta. Another four locations, including Calgary, were within 1.5 degrees Celsius of making history.
But as a high pressure system was replaced by a cold front, Friday night ended with wind warnings and snowfall warning across Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan.
In a release on Saturday, Environment Canada confirmed peak wind gusts in the province were recorded at 117 km/h in Bassano. A ‘Category One Hurricane wind’ according to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, starts with sustained winds of 119 km/h.
Calgary’s peak wind gust on Saturday was 70 km/h out of the north, which made the daytime high of 18 degrees Celsius feel a bit cooler.
As of Saturday night, all wind warnings across Alberta were dropped, but snowfall warnings remain in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as that system continues to track east.
Sunday will be a bit cooler around southern Alberta, and some areas, including Calgary, are expecting a wind chill value overnight. By Monday most of the province will be back into above seasonal temperatures.