Skip to content

Autumn will ultimately be warm, despite dreary start

The Weather Network predicts a warmer than average fall season in their seasonal outlook
8521686_web1_170914-SLN-M-Fall-Temperature

The next few weeks may not be the greatest example, but the Weather Network is predicting a warmer than normal autumn.

The Fall Outlook, which was released on Sept. 13, describes conditions in central Alberta are going to be above seasonal, once averaged out over the next three months.

Erin Wenckstern, a meteorologist with the Weather Network, said it is hard to explain just what ‘normal’ is for Alberta, as the weather patterns are so varied.

“It isn’t the greatest provinces to say what the seasonal norm is from day to day. Sometimes you have snow as early as August and sometimes you have 20 degrees C weather in November,” Wenckstern said in a recent phone interview.

According to the Fall Outlook, the month of September will look a little different from the rest of the season.

The next two weeks or so are expected to be cooler than normal, with nighttime lows reaching close to freezing.

What the region is seeing now is a shift, with the warmer summer weather heading to the east.

“It certainly doesn’t feel like late summer right now, but we expect by October the weather will shift again,” Wenckstern said.

Wenckstern says meteorologists are tracking a storm system that is expected to hit central Alberta mid to late next week.

The system is expected to bring colder, nearly freezing temperature, chilly winds and rain with a small chance of snow.

Wenckstern pointed out places like Kananaskis received snow this week, and that system is inching closer to the QEII Highway.

October will see a reversion back to warmer temperatures. These temperatures will largely be above normal for the season. There will still be dips into the colder weather.

“Fall is a shifting season. Temperatures drop somewhere between one and three degrees every week over the course of three months,” Wenckstern said.

It is difficult to say how much warmer the season will be at the end of November, but meteorologists are confident the average will be above normal.

The season is expected to produce “near normal” precipitation for most of Alberta.

“We aren’t saying it’ll be completely dry or a storms season, just fewer storms with just about normal precipitation,” Wenckstern said.

While the winter months are still pretty far off, meteorologists are already getting a feel for what may be in store.

In the fewest words; it’ll be cold.

8521686_web1_170914-SLN-M-September-Pattern