Calgary

Snow falls in western Alberta as frost advisories issued

It's not expected to stick around, but snow was falling in Calgary and many areas west, south and north of the city late in the day on Friday.

Temperatures expected to dip near freezing mark Saturday morning, but rebound Sunday

It's not expected to stick around, but snow was falling at the outer edges of Calgary and many areas west, south and north of the city late in the day on Friday. 

Environment Canada's Bill McMurtry says most of the snow was reported at higher elevations in the Rockies and Foothills.

"We are anticipating that snow will continue for the remainder of the afternoon and evening period," he told CBC News. "As the system moves off to the east towards Saskatchewan and Manitoba we'll see skies clear overnight and that will end the precipitation."

Webcams belonging to the Lake Louise Ski Resort and Sunshine Village show the snow already accumulating in higher elevations.

Rain was also falling in many other areas of southern Alberta.

"In addition to the rain, strong northerly winds will develop behind a cold front with gusts from 60 to 80 km/h,"  Environment Canada said on its website. 

"Falling temperatures will accompany the strong winds. Tonight, as a ridge of high pressure moves in and skies clear, local frost is possible as temperatures dip close to freezing."

Frost advisories

Environment Canada issued frost advisories for many parts of southern and central Alberta for Saturday morning, which have since been lifted.

"It looks like a very cool air mass is moving in behind this weather system," McMurtry said.

He said the frost impact may be lessened with the presence of fog or morning dew, or cloud cover and moderate winds in eastern Alberta. 

"Many areas are looking at overnight lows in that 2 C to 3 C range," said McMurtry.

He expected areas in the Foothills west of Highway 2 and higher elevations to be the most affected.

Better weather on the way

McMurtry said the good news is temperatures are expected to rebound by Sunday and stay above average next week.

"Once we get through this little weather system and some cool temperatures tomorrow, it's looking pretty good with lots of sunshine and warming temperatures as we get towards the weekend and the start of the new work week."