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By Shane Clausing
winter weather heading for peace region

Temperatures set to drop in Peace Region following Tuesday snow squall event

Jan 20, 2021 | 1:56 PM

Temperatures will begin to dip this weekend, following Tuesday’s snow squall event that brought cool temperatures and high winds to most of northern Alberta.

The splash of cold weather comes after most of January saw temperatures well above normal for this time of the year in the Peace Region.

According to Environment Canada Meteorologist Alyssa Peterson, this cold weather will last for a while.

“Winter is about to really come into Alberta. Normally what we see is a cold front move through and we go from zero degrees all the way down to minus 20. This time it’s over about a period of five or six days.”

“We’re going to be getting a very big pattern shift and dropping into a little bit closer to normal temperatures by the end of the weekend.”

Temperatures in the Grande Prairie area are expected to drop down to highs of minus 10 to 12 over the weekend, before dropping down to highs of minus 19 throughout most of next week.

Snow is also expected to fly throughout this coming weekend and into next week. Peterson couldn’t say how much snow would drop in the region, however, she added residents in the Peace Region should be prepared for anything that could come their way.

Peterson expects this cold front to last until the first week of February.

As for the snow squall weather event which hit most of northern Alberta on Tuesday, Peterson says events like this are rare and dangerous.

“The kind of snow squall that hit the Grande Prairie area and actually moved all the way through Edmonton as well is called a frontal squall.

“That’s when we have a really strong cold front and we anticipate extremely strong winds associated with heavy falling snow. It’ll create rapidly changing whiteout conditions. It’s the most hazardous if you’re travelling on highways.”

Winds on Tuesday in the Peace Region reached a maximum speed of 109 km/hr.

Places east of the Peace Region saw winds even stronger. The Town of Whitecourt registered a wind speed of 128 km/hr.

by Shane Clausing