Another Wet Start to the Week As a Storm Brings Up to 75mm of Rain to Southern Alberta
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Great news! More moisture is on the way for Southern and Central Alberta and this time it will impact the southeast the most. After last week’s snow failed to spread too far east of Calgary, those that missed out on the precipitation will have their turn with heavy rain expected to begin in the late afternoon Monday and continue into Wednesday.
A strong low pressure system is making its way into the province from the south and we will start to see some light rain pushing northward late Monday afternoon, reaching the Edmonton area by the mid-evening hours. The rain is then expected to intensify overnight and moderate rain will continue throughout the day Tuesday. Rainfall rates exceeding 2mm/hr will last for several hours, which will drive up totals in the hardest hit areas, particularly around Brooks, Taber, and Medicine Hat where up to 75mm is expected to fall from this system. The rain will then start to taper off Wednesday morning, but light rain is expected to continue until the evening. This amount of rain in a short period of time will likely lead to localized flooding so be prepared, especially when travelling in this region.
Meanwhile, Calgary and southward along the Highway 2 corridor, along with to the northwest, including Rocky Mountain House and Drayton Valley, can expect to see rainfall amounts of 10-20mm and even less than that moving westward. Those in the Rockies may see a bit of drizzle, but precipitation from this system will fall mostly as snow, with 10-20cm expected through the region.
Conditions will also be a bit windy across Southern and Central Alberta throughout the duration of this event. Widespread gusts of 50-70km/h with pockets up to 90km/h are expected to peak late Tuesday morning and into the evening and the winds completely die off by late Wednesday with the end of the storm.
Thankfully the heaviest rain is coming to the driest part of Southern Alberta, and it should really help decrease the wildfire risk in the area.
