The first signs of winter resulted in snowy conditions on the highways around Edmonton today. Via the website 511 Alberta, helping you arrive safely, it was nice to see how the cold air coming in from the north brought snow around the city of Edmonton and the roads towards the Rocky Mountains.
Jetstream temporarily more south
The jetstream was temporarily more to the south this weekend, allowing cold air to move south as well. Particularly to the east of the Rockies, cold air was pressed on the Alberta prairies towards the Rocky Mountains with an eastern ground wind.
The map above shows nicely how the jet stream in western Canada is temporarily situated more to the south. This means that cold air can sink. You can easily see this on the map below where the cold air is enclosed just east of the Rockies.
This led to the first colors on the snow forecast maps. That something like this happens in the Rockies is not strange for September, but it is special for the Alberta prairies.
The snow won’t last for long. The jetstream moves back to the north after the weekend and the temperature will rise rapidly. But hey, it’s the first sign of winter and that’s pretty good news after a warm summer.
Snow in the Rockies
Although the freezing level in the Rockies was a bit higher than on the Alberta prairies, some snow came down above 1500 meters in the east and above 2000 meters in the west.
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