Snow blanketed central and southern Alberta on Friday, and heavy snow continued Saturday morning.
As of 12:30 p.m., a snowfall warning remained in effect in parts of the province, including Kananaskis, Canmore, Red Deer, Ponoka, Innisfail, Stettler, Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, Drayton Valley, Devon, Rimbey, Pigeon Lake, Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Leduc, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Tofield, Spruce Grove, Morinville, Mayerthorpe, Evansburg, Whitecourt, Edson, Fox Creek and Swan Hills, while a blowing snow advisory is in effect for Lloydminster, Wainwright, Vermilion and Provost.
While most of central Alberta deals with periods of heavy snow Saturday, parts of southern Alberta finally saw improvement in weather conditions.
Environment Canada lifted Calgary’s snowfall warning at 10:48 a.m. Saturday morning.
Snowfall warnings were also dropped for Airdrie, Cochrane, Olds, Sundre, Drumheller, Three Hills, Okotoks, High River Claresholm, Brooks, Strathmore, Vulcan, Crowsnest Pass, Pincher Creek and Waterton Lakes National Park.
Environment Canada meteorologist Alysa Pederson said since the first band of snow hit around 11 p.m. Thursday night, some areas in Calgary gained between 20 to 30 centimetres of snow (as of 10 a.m. Saturday).
Pederson says the heaviest snow was reported in northwest and southwest quadrants of the city. Calgary’s International Airport reported 20 centimetres.
Calgary wasn’t alone, she added. Brooks, Drumheller and Cochrane also reported snowfall totals of 25 centimetres.
An intense low pressure system from the Pacific is to blame for this latest blast of wintry weather.
The system is already showing signs of easing here in Calgary as snow tapers off this afternoon. However, areas still under the snowfall warning won’t see their weather conditions improve until tonight.
Calgary’s average high for today is 2 C. However, below seasonal temperatures are expected this weekend.