Josh Classen’s forecast: Cold spell starts today and bottoms out this weekend

The Alberta legislature in downtown Edmonton is seen in this Dec. 9, 2024, aerial photo. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

The streak will end at 10 days. Thursday was Edmonton’s 10th consecutive day with an afternoon high above 0 C.

(Average number of days above 0 C in January is also 10.)

Colder air is starting to drop in behind Thursday’s snow and wind storm. Temperatures will hold fairly steady in the -8 to -10 C range for much of today and it’ll be a lot calmer for MOST, but not all, of today.

There’s some light snow pushing through northwestern Alberta early today and that’ll move into the Edmonton region somewhere in the 4-8 p.m. window.

It doesn’t look like it’ll amount to a LOT of snow, but it’ll probably coincide with some 30-40 km/h gusts. So, depending on timing, blowing snow could be an issue for the commute home today.

It won’t be anything like Thursday’s storm, when we had gusts in the 60-70 km/h range. But, a bit of wind and light snow is likely late today.

Sunnier and colder for the weekend, with light wind.

Afternoon highs near -20 C for both Saturday and Sunday. Morning temperatures Sunday and Monday will drop into the -27 C range in the city and could hit -30s outside the city.

The deep freeze won’t last TOO long. Still cold through the daytime hours Monday, but we’ll climb to around -5 C by Tuesday morning and daytime highs are expected to be right around the freezing mark for Tuesday-Thursday.

Looking LONG range: Cooler air moves in towards the end of next week. At this point, it looks like we’ll have highs in the -5 to -10 C range for highs Friday-Monday (Jan. 24-27).

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Mostly cloudy & light wind for most of the day.

70% chance of light snow late this afternoon with gusts near 40 km/h.

High: -8

Tonight - Flurries & gusts ending mid to late evening. Clearing overnight.

9pm: -12

Saturday - Sunny with a few clouds. Light wind.

Morning Low: -20

Afternoon High: -18

Sunday - Sunny with a few clouds.

Morning Low: -27

Afternoon High: -20

Monday - Increasing cloud.

Morning Low: -27

Afternoon High: -13

Temperature rising overnight.

Tuesday - Mix of sun & cloud. Windy.

Morning: -5

Afternoon High: 0

Wednesday - Mix of sun & cloud. Windy.

Morning Low: -8

Afternoon High: -1