Dueling patterns build huge temperature swing over Western Canada
Saturday may have turned out to be one of the coldest June days in recent memory for parts of Alberta
British Columbia and Alberta may share a border, but they can be a world apart when it comes to the weather.
Steamy temperatures in southern B.C. on Saturday stood in sharp contrast to the unusually chilly readings bathing Alberta.
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It’s a tale of a jammed-up jet stream and the very nature of nature.
Weather extremes beget weather extremes. Chilly temperatures are usually offset by unusually toasty conditions somewhere down the line.
That’s what we got over Western Canada over the weekend in the form of a sharp ridge over the West Coast clashing with a low-pressure system on the western Prairies.
Daytime highs soared into the upper 20s and even breached the 30-degree mark across southern B.C. beneath the ridge and hot sunshine.
Conditions on the other side of the Rockies couldn’t have been more different. A dreary upper-level low brought widespread clouds and rain to Alberta on Saturday.
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While the ridge and trough each helped amplify the temperature extremes, the mountains acting as a natural barrier really defined the temperature change over such a short difference.
This pattern forced many folks in Alberta to contend with one of their chilliest June days in recent memory.
Edmonton’s average daytime high this time of year is about 21°C.
Things will flip around in a hurry on the Prairies as the West Coast ridge migrates inland through the week.
Calmer conditions and warmer temperatures will arrive in Alberta for the start of the week, sending temperatures in some spots 15+ degrees warmer than they saw during Saturday’s gloom.
The warm ridge will spread east into Saskatchewan and Manitoba by mid- to late-week.
