Winter will be a frosty one.
November has been a truly cold month in St. Albert and the weather doesn’t look to be warming up anytime soon, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.
In the past month, St. Albert experienced cold temperatures and three times the amount of snow than usual.
“It began early and it’s beginning to bite deep and hard,” Phillips said.
Environment Canada figures suggest the average total snowfall in Edmonton for November is 18 centimetres. About 35 centimetres fell on St. Albert in a single day during the big storm three weeks ago, on Wednesday, Nov. 7. The local record for daily snowfall in November is nearly 40 centimetres, which fell on Nov. 15, 1942.
This week, St. Albert residents can expect temperatures between minus 4 and minus 14 degrees.
“I guess, the problem is that we didn’t have much of a winter last year and people are not used to it. You lived two years without seeing the winter,” Phillips said.
“The good news is that you’ll probably have a white Christmas.”
Phillips said Environment Canada originally forecasted an El Nino, which would have seen warmer air move into Western Canada because of currents in the Pacific Ocean. But the system never got to be an El Nino.
This leaves St. Albert to either receive some “Obama weather” from the south, or cold winds from the north.
“It’s a neutral situation. It could go either way,” he said.
December is expected to be cooler than normal. Average daytime highs are usually at minus 9 to minus 11 degrees but Phillips expects they will be at minus 12 and 13 this winter.
January should see normal temperatures, with an average high of minus eight and average lows of minus 19.
Since temperatures are not expected to rise above zero degrees, Phillips said the snow won’t melt. This keeps the ground from taking up heat to warm the air.
Across the province, precipitation levels are expected to rise. This means more snowfall, as temperatures are too cold to allow for rain.
Despite cold temperatures, Phillips expects quite a few days of sunshine. He suggests people stand outside and soak up some sun, which can make temperatures feel two to five degrees warmer.
“The weather will be good for the economy. People will buy more winter things based on the fact that they are in the winter season,” he said.
“It will kill all the bugs and diseases and grasshoppers. And the snow is good for the growers because it insulates the plants above the ground and provides moisture.”
