Calgary sees snow before Christmas, but will it stick?
Posted Dec 23, 2023 8:07 am.
Last Updated Dec 23, 2023 5:05 pm.
Well, it seems as if it could very well be a white Christmas after all.
Calgarians are waking up to a dump of snow Saturday, and the precipitation is offering some reprieve for what has been a dry season so far.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) meteorologist Erin Staunton says the airport saw three centimetres overnight, which is normal for this time of year, but bucking the dry trend we’ve seen during this El Niño is a different matter.
“Once that’s over and done with, we’re not really expecting any new snow this weekend and right through Christmas,” she told CityNews.
“Given the snowfall that we did see overnight, if we can hang on to that snow in the Calgary area over the weekend if none of it melts in the next couple of days it is still possible we could still see a white Christmas in the area.”
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In the first 36 hours after a snowfall, the City of Calgary focuses on clearing the busiest routes, with over 20,000 vehicles per day, including Crowchild Trail, Sarcee and Macleod Trail, as well as downtown roads.
This includes approximately 1,300 high-use bus stops
A post from 511 Alberta says Highway 2 north of the city is partly covered in black ice and slush, but snowplows are working, so drivers should give them room to work.
The ECCC says Sunday will hit a high of 0 C, with morning windchill on the lower end at -16 C. Meanwhile, Christmas Day is expected to hit a high of 3 C, with Boxing Day sitting around 6 C.
The warmest Christmas the city had was in 1985, when it it hit a high of 14.8 C. The coldest day was in 1886 when Calgarians experienced a low of -35 C.
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