Josh Classen’s forecast: Feeling mid-April in February

Double digits today and tomorrow and more warm days to follow.

We’re getting a taste of spring in late February in Edmonton.

It’s not just because this FEELS a lot nicer after a frigid first 19 days of the month.

Afternoon highs around 10 C today and Thursday (and for the past four days) are more on par with the April 12-15 averages.

There’s a cold front expected to swipe across the province on Thursday, but it looks like that’ll pack more of a wind punch than a temperature knockdown.

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Yes, daytime highs will be a couple degrees “cooler” for Fri/Sat/Sun. But...we’re still anticipating afternoons in the 6- to 10-degree range for those three days (and mild mornings).

As we discussed yesterday, we have a couple systems pushing through northern Alberta with some precipitation. There was some snow and mixed precipitation in NW AB late yesterday and that pushed through NE Alberta last night.

We’ll see the same thing today. Mixed precipitation early in the day in the NW and then shoving it’s way into NE AB tonight. There’s the potential for some significant snowfall north of Fort McMurray (possibly mixed with freezing rain) and a Winter Storm Warning has been issued for tonight and Thursday in the Fort Chipewyan region.

South of that warning zone, Fort McMurray has a high risk for freezing rain or mixed precipitation late tonight and through Thursday morning.

All of that precipitation is expected to stay well north of the Edmonton region.

However, the cold front behind that system will drop south across the province on Thursday and could generate some powerful wind gusts.

Don’t be too surprised if we see some wind warnings issued for parts of northern and central Alberta tomorrow.

In general, most areas will get gusts in the 50-60 km/h range, but some spots could see gusts approaching 70-90 km/h.

Looking LONG range - we’re still anticipating a slight “cooldown” for next week. Daytime highs still look poised to slip back into the 2- to 6-degree range.

Here’s the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Partly cloudy. Wind: SW 10 km/h

High: 10

Tonight - Cloudy periods. Wind: SW 10 km/h

9pm: 4

Thursday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Wind: W 10-20 in the morning, then NW 20-30 gusting 40-60 km/h in the afternoon.

Morning Low: 0

Afternoon High: 11

Friday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -2

Afternoon High: 9

Saturday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: -3

Afternoon High: 8

Sunday - Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: -2

Afternoon High: 8

Monday - Mix of sun & cloud.

Morning Low: -3

Afternoon High: 5