Huge snowstorm for parts of western Canada - mild weather continues in the east

The first snowstorm of 2019 is forecast to dump 25 to 60cm of wet snow on southern Alberta, interior portions of southeastern B.C. and adjacent Montana over the weekend. (NWS Photo)

I apologize for the lack of weather talk in recent weeks. I hate it when real life gets in the way of my chosen passion. A few extra responsibilities here at The Suburban have kept me from writing as much as I would like to.

Thankfully the weather has been fairly quiet over the last few weeks in Montreal. September has been beautiful across southern Quebec, an extension of the summer really. As with the past few years, September has become just another summer month, with average temperatures running above normal, into the lower to mid 20s. We have yet to see frost in metro Montreal, which is normal. We should see some colder nights over the next couple of weeks that will help the leaves along with their colour and also produce some frosty mornings. Daytime temperatures will remain at or slightly above normal through the weekend across southern Quebec.

Precipitation has been above normal for September, with 93.4 mm to date. Showers are forecast on Saturday and once again late Monday, which should allow Montreal to exceed 100mm (4 inches) for the month.

Historic Snowstorm
The big weather news this weekend will be the historically early snowstorm expected to impact portions of interior British Columbia, southern Alberta and northwest Montana. A strong Pacific storm will move into the Rockies over the weekend, combining with an unseasonably cold airmass. The result will be heavy wet snow along the spine of the Rockies and into the foothills west of Calgary. Snow is forecast to start late Friday and persist in some locations into early Monday. Some computer models are estimating as much as 50cm of snow across southwest Alberta. Winter storm watches have been issued. The heavy wet snow will fall on trees that are still in full bloom, with the possibility of major damage occurring. Power outages and very poor travel conditions are expected as well, especially west of Calgary along the Trans Canada Highway into B.C. Strong winds are also forecast with the storm, in excess of 100km/h. The same conditions are forecast in northwest Montana where weather warnings are already in place.

The weather is eerily similar to that of fall 2018, when a massive snowstorm hit Calgary southern Alberta on October 2.