Alberta Clipper to Deliver Southern Saskatchewan’s First Widespread Accumulating Snowfall Starting Friday

As Alberta braces for the first winter storm of the season with more than 25cm of snow possible throughout the Rockies, Saskatchewan will also be into the crosshairs of the same system. This will bring the potential for the first snowflake of the season for much of Southern Saskatchewan and even maybe a few centimetres of accumulation depending on the location. For the areas that do see the accumulation, general amounts will range from 4-8cm stretching from a zone from the Alberta border through Swift Current and towards Estevan.

We’ll begin to see the first effects of the Alberta Clipper near the Alberta border during the early to mid-afternoon on Friday. The light to moderate snowfall will continue for much of the day on Friday and into the overnight hours as it slowly spreads further to the east. South-central Saskatchewan such as Moose Jaw and Regina will see the snow sometime during the early evening. Snowfall will slowly taper off from west to east beginning early Saturday morning and fully clearing out of the province by noon.

As mentioned, the highest snow totals will be around the Swift Current, Assiniboia, Weyburn and Estevan area where we are forecasting between 6-12cm although it will likely be closer to the lower part of that range so 10+cm is unlikely. Extending outside of this region, we can expect to see a few centimetres of snowfall accumulation through Shunavon and Moose Jaw. All other areas will see just wet flurries with little to no accumulation. Please note that temperatures will be hovering near the freezing mark during the day on Friday so it might take some time for the snow to start sticking to the ground. This makes forecasting snow totals tricky as some of the expected accumulation could melt right as it hits the ground.