Travel disruptions possible as wintry systems slide into Prairies
Spring will hit the snooze button next week on the Prairies, allowing for winter weather to return—potentially in a major way for parts of the region by Wednesday
Several doses of snow will arrive on the Prairies as we enter the middle of April, a wintry flourish that succeeds a period of comfortable warmth that stretched across the region.
Multiple systems will sweep across the region through the middle of next week, bringing the chance for accumulating snow from the Rockies to the Manitoba Lakes. Some folks will have to break out the snow shovels by midweek.
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The first low-pressure system of the week will develop over central Alberta Sunday night and Monday, bringing wet snow to western and northwestern areas of the province, as well as western Saskatchewan.
The greatest accumulations will fall along the foothills in Alberta, which could see 5-10 cm of snow.
But it’s the second system arriving by the middle of the week that could prove disruptive for parts of the Prairies.
Forecasters are watching the potential for a significant and messy system Tuesday night and Wednesday. The storm’s ultimate track will determine where and what kind of impacts we see from this system.
There’s still low confidence in that track right now, but parts of the region could see a significant thump of snow through the latter half of the week. Stay tuned in the coming days as the event draws closer and the details grow clearer.
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As of now, the greatest risk for the heaviest snow exists across extreme southeastern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. These areas could see the potential for 15-20+ cm of snowfall. If this scenario pans out, we’ll see travel disruptions across the region’s major highways.
Despite the looming threat of a wintry system this week, it doesn’t look like we’ll see persistent extreme temperatures in either direction through the rest of April into early May. However, the western half of the country will likely tip toward the colder side of seasonal for the second half of April.
Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest forecast updates on the Prairies.