We saw a little bit of everything last week with spring-like temperatures late in the week followed by a complex storm system that brought a return to winter-like conditions to begin this week.
For this forecast period, it looks like quiet weather will move back in after a very unsettled start to the week. Weak high pressure will meander around the Prairies, bringing with it mainly sunny skies from Wednesday to Friday and daytime highs in the -2 to -6 C range and overnight lows around -15 C. Along with the sunny skies and mild temperatures, it looks like winds will remain on the light side, which will make for some very nice early-spring weather. This could result in some overnight fog if enough melting can occur on any given day.
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The mild and quiet weather should continue over the weekend as a large area of low pressure slowly drops southward out of the Gulf of Alaska toward northern B.C. This low will help to develop a ridge of high pressure across the central Prairies that will maintain the mild spring-like temperatures. We could see a few clouds and maybe the odd flurry on Saturday as a weak trough of low pressure moves through the westerly flow.
High pressure will build back in on Sunday bringing a return to sunshine, light winds and mild temperatures. This area of high pressure will slowly slide off to our east early next week. This, combined with the area of low pressure dropping southwards along the B.C. coast, will help to develop a significant southerly flow across the central U.S. and up into the southern Prairies. Expect daytime highs to inch up a little bit each day, with highs forecast to be in the +3 to +5 C range by late in the week, which is well above the usual temperature range for this time of the year.
Usual temperature range for this period: Highs, -11 to +2 C; lows, -23 to -8 C.
