It’ll be a breath of fresh, comparably warm air in Alberta this week, as the province bursts out of an extreme cold warning that led to numerous issues throughout the past week.
Warnings for the Edmonton and Calgary regions were lifted by Environment Canada Saturday afternoon.
While the warnings remained in place Sunday morning for the northern and eastern parts of the province, by the afternoon, the warnings had been lifted from the entire province.
It will be a much-needed reprieve from the cold temperatures, with many parts of the province set to see temperatures above zero.
“We’re seeing a combined effort: wind direction is shifting, we are looking at a trough coming in from the west,” said Global Edmonton weather specialist Phil Darlington. “As well as increased cloud cover and a shifting of the jet stream.
“The jet stream is moving north, allowing more warm air up from the south.”
On Sunday, there was a surge of warmth in Calgary with Environment Canada predicting a high of 1 C. On Monday, Calgary is going to be 5 C, and by the end of the week, Friday will see spring-like temperatures of 11 C.
Further south in Lethbridge there will be even more warmth: on Sunday, Lethbridge is going to be 2 C. By Monday, it will hit 6 C, and by Friday it might just be spring jacket weather with a high of 13 C.
In Edmonton, the warm-up is going a little slower, with Sunday seeing a high of -15 C. But on Monday they’ll see a high of -3 C and by Tuesday the city will hit zero. Edmonton’s warmest day this week will also be Friday, when the city is predicted to hit 3 C.
For the northern and eastern parts of the province. Environment Canada said the temperatures are expected to “moderate on Monday to near or above seasonal values.”
Fort McMurray is set to see a high of -17 C Sunday, but the wind chill will make that feel like -24. By Monday, that city is going to warm up to -10 C.
Grande Prairie is around the same: -17 C on Sunday, with -9 C on Monday.
Medicine Hat will see a high of -14 C Sunday, with 2 C by Monday.