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By Nick Nielsen

Warm Weather could stay longer than expected

Prince Albert’s weird weather forecast explained

Dec 3, 2024 | 2:26 PM

In the span of a week, Prince Albert’s forecast shows temperatures getting up to 0°C today (Tuesday), down to -18°C Wednesday day, then up again to 1°C and 2°C Friday and Saturday, and back down again to -14°C for Monday.

The roller coaster of weather is due to a low pressure system coming through the area that coming down from the Arctic according to Environment Canada Meteorologist Danielle Desjardins.

“What’s happening is there’s a low pressure system that tracking across the north central portion of the province, and behind that a ridge of high pressure will push into the province. Unlike last week, where that ridge of high pressure stuck around, it’s just going to quickly come in and out of the province and we’re going to once again see a return of the warm air. So that’s causing that huge temperature swing.”

With the sun coming out and the temperatures warming up to over 0°C for two days in a row, don’t expect too much of the snow to melt away. With somewhere around a foot of snow accumulated in the Prince Albert area to keep the ground cool with reduced hours of sunlight, you may see some melting on the roads, but not much outside of that. In fact, it’s more likely we end up with more snow coming out of it.

“We’re getting to almost the minimal daylight for the year. So it is a little bit tougher at this time of year. The sun isn’t as strong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw a little bit of melt, but insofar as for snowfall coming up, the chance of snow for tonight into Wednesday, there’s just a little bit of remnant instability in behind this low pressure system. Prince Albert is out of the heaviest snowfall, but you’re going to see a little bit of flurries as the colder air pushes in.”

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While it hasn’t reached our forecast yet, Desjardins said that there is another system Environment Canada is tracking that could make its way to Prince Albert during the middle of the next week that could dump some snow in that time.

Regarding the melt, you won’t have to worry about snow melting to the point that it will cause issues in your house or in your yard, but it could have an effect on the roads. With a layer of snow plastered on the road in most of the city streets in Prince Albert, there could be some ugly roads ahead despite the pleasant temperatures.

“Definitely with the freeze-thaw, you could get a little bit of slippery road conditions, especially if there’s any snow left on the roads or when there’s a little bit of melt in the refreeze. So definitely take precautions when driving, especially when the temperature gets near 0 because the roads could get a little bit slippery, so leave yourself a little bit more time to get to where you need to be.”

There is a chance the warm air could stick around a little longer than the forecast shows, but it isn’t a guarantee.

“We’re staying warm for the weekend and that looks pretty certain, but for next week there there is a chance that you could see a little bit of warmer air stick around. It’s a little bit uncertain, we’ll know a little bit more as we head into the weekend if those warmer temperatures will stick around or not, but I always say at this time of year especially, the cold air usually wins.”