United States

Snow and Cold into the West and the Long Range Update

October 19, 2012; 2:11 PM

A weak storm system will cut across British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan tonight through Saturday night and bring some snow to the region.

Latest trends suggest the storm track will be too far north and mid-level winds will be too westerly to bring much in the way of accumulation to places such as Edmonton, Jasper and Red Deer, A.B., but I can easily see a small accumulation on non-paved areas on Saturday as the colder air wraps in on the back side of the storm. There should be light to moderate accumulations in the mountains, especially Friday night.

Another pattern change next week...

The jet stream will dive south into the western U.S. through next week allowing unseasonably cold air to cover much of western Canada with widespread snow showers likely across the western mountains during the week and a potential snow event early in the week.

Potential accumulating snow event for Calgary and Edmonton, A.B., early next week...

There is actually a greater potential for a more widespread, heavier snowfall from the east slopes of the Canadian Rockies through Alberta and into western Saskatchewan Monday night into Tuesday next week as the large upper-level trough along the West Coast spins up a surface storm that tracks toward Saskatchewan, potentially putting parts of southern and central Alberta in the favorable zone for heavier snowfall.

I will be out in Denver, Colo., for a part of next week with my fellow long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok as we attend a conference from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC), so I will do my best to keep you posted.

Here is my latest interpretation of the ECMWF long-range weekly forecast output.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com