Cold start to the week with Monday’s high 21 degrees colder than average

Extremely cold in many areas of Alberta. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

As expected, widespread extreme cold warnings have been issued across Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as portions of British Columbia and Manitoba.

Environment and Climate Change Canada explained, “Extreme cold warnings are issued when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia.”

The national weather agency advised “temperatures will moderate somewhat during the daytime hours, nighttime and early morning wind chills near minus 40 will likely continue for parts of Alberta until the middle of the week.”

In Calgary, the daytime highs will peak at -23 C to -24 C on Monday and Tuesday with lows between -27 C to -29 C, which is significantly colder than the high temperatures last week of 10 C to 13 C.

For context, the average high in Calgary this time of year is -2 C with a low of -13 C.

A low-riding jet stream is allowing Arctic air to funnel across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with little chance of a change until the end of the week.

Along the B.C. coastline there is a moisture-laden system impacting the region and because the atmospheric temperature profile is colder than it usually would be, heavy, wet snow is falling.

Light and scattered flurries are possible in southern Alberta on Monday and Tuesday as that B.C. low tracks east, but the heaviest accumulations in Alberta should sit along the southern border.

Daytime highs will start to improve throughout the week – although they are not forecast to reach seasonal thresholds.

As of Thursday, the highs will range from -7 C to -10 C until Sunday, with lows between -17 C and -19 C.