The Christmas forecast played out pretty close to what the weather models predicted, as cold weather moved in over the holidays.

The one big difference was just how cold it ended up getting, with some areas seeing overnight lows drop into the mid -30s C. For this forecast period it looks like the very cold pattern we’ve been in for the last 10 or so days will begin to switch towards a more seasonable one.

This forecast period begins with yet one more area of arctic high pressure building in from the North. This high will take a more easterly track compared to the one that affected our region over the holidays. While the arctic high will bring a reinforcing shot of cold air, the eastern track will keep the coldest air to our north and east. Expect daytime highs to be around -20 C with overnight lows near -30 C.

The weather models are then showing a broad area of low pressure tracking across the central Prairies over the weekend. This low will bring clouds along with the chance of some light snow, but more importantly it will bring milder temperatures. Expect daytime highs to be around -10 C with overnight lows around -18 C.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t spell the end of our cold temperatures as one more area of arctic high pressure builds southwards behind the weekend low. This high is forecasted to slide by to our west and then south on Monday and Tuesday, dropping temperatures back down into the -20 C range. Temperatures then look like they will moderate for the second half of next week as an area of low pressure develops over southern Alberta and then tracks across the Dakotas. We could see a little light snow from this system late on Wednesday or Thursday, especially over western and southern regions, but accumulations look to be low.

Usual temperature range for this period: highs: -21 to -5 C, lows: -31 to -15 C.