***NOTE: YOU CAN CLICK ON THE MAP TO OPEN A ZOOMABLE IMAGE***

The month of January has been fairly quiet across the Prairies, with periods of frigid Arctic air and some occasional snowfall as well as much more mild temperatures in the past week. Now, to end the month, we’re bracing for the return of the Arctic air and the most impactful storm since November. This incoming system will bring over 30cm of snowfall to a large swath across all three Prairie provinces by late Monday.

Considering how long the snow is expected to fall across the region, we’ll be breaking the forecast down into daily segments.

Friday

The snow will make its way into Alberta in the Northern Rockies ahead of a warm front early Friday morning, a couple of hours after midnight, as a low-pressure system pushes eastward from British Columbia. Meanwhile, snow will also develop along the front further south, to the east of Calgary.

These two areas of snowfall will merge together after a few hours, before sunrise, as the front surges northeastward. At the same time, snow will continue to develop along the length of the front and start making its way into Southwest Saskatchewan.

***Model Image showing the Location and Intensity of the Snowfall at 7pm MT/8PM CT***

As the low-pressure center makes its way across Alberta Friday morning and afternoon, the large area of snowfall will expand further northward in Alberta and eastward across Saskatchewan. In the evening, the leading edge of the snow will start to cross into Southwestern Manitoba and the entire line of snow will continue to travel eastward as we move into the overnight hours.

The snow is expected to remain steady over an area that covers Grande Prairie and east to Lac La Biche from the late morning straight through to the end of the day, which will lead to this area receiving the greatest accumulation of 10-20cm for Friday. The snow along the length of the front is anticipated to remain fairly moderate, but it may end up being patchy, resulting in some areas seeing breaks in the snowfall. Despite this, a widespread 5-10cm is expected to fall across Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Saturday

The cold air will wrap around the backside of this storm and that will become noticeable starting in Alberta Saturday morning. The snow will continue in parts of all three Prairie provinces throughout the day Saturday and we’ll have more details of how much to expect in the forecast we will post tomorrow.