With just two weeks left of summer, Mother Nature had different plans for Airdronians, as residents were forced to dig out of more than 20 cm of snow that fell on the city on Sept. 8 and 9.
An arctic ridge of unseasonably cold air hovered over most of Rocky View County, and blanketed fields, roads and caused trees to break under the pressure of the heavy snow.
“Snow in September is not unusual for Airdrie but when it does happen it’s usually at the end of the month,” said Environment Canada Meteorologist Bill McMurtry.
The last time Airdrie and surrounding area saw snow in September was in 2010, according to McMurtry.
“(The Calgary area) normally gets 1.3 days of snow in September on average, but we’ve only had that once in the last six years,” he said.
Environment Canada issued two snowfall warnings, one for Sept. 8 for a system that produced 10 cm of snow, and a second warning for Sept. 9 that saw 15 cm of snow fall.
Warnings were also issued for the Town of Crossfield and the Town of Cochrane on the same days.
Jennifer MacGowan, communications officer with Fortis Alberta, confirmed that 1,300 customers lost power at 4 a.m. on Sept. 10. The outtage affected customers from the Balzac area to Irricana.
“The outtage lasted until 6 a.m. this morning,” she said. “One crew responded to the outtage, but we have dispatched many crews throughout our service area.”
It’s been an active summer for weather for the Airdrie and Rocky View County, according to McMurtry.
“Airdrie and Cochrane have seen lots of active weather this summer,” McMurtry said.
“It’s shocked everyone.”
Airdrie and surrounding areas were hit by a severe hail storm that caused more than $400 million in damage to home, property and business on Aug. 7 and 8. See related story on page 12.
The region has also had its fair share of severe thunderstorm warnings as Airdrie has been under more than five warnings in the month of August.
“For the long range forecast (September to November) the models aren’t indicating one way or the other,” McMurtry explained.
“We are calling for seasonable weather for most of Alberta.”
Last year, the first recorded snow fall was on Nov. 3 which saw 10 cm on the ground.
The average temperature for the month of September 2013 was 20.8°C, so far the average temperature for the first two weeks of September is 20.1° C.
The Weather Network’s meteorologists released this year’s Fall Outlook on Sept. 9, forecasting the months of September, October and November. In addition, it’s releasing a winter preview giving Canadians a glimpse of what to expect.
The Fall Outlook shows temperature patterns experienced this summer should persist with above normal temperatures expected in B.C., parts of Alberta and southern Nova Scotia and below normal temperatures from the eastern Prairies into Quebec.
The Weather Network’s meteorologists expect a typical transitional weather pattern over the next three months, but note that some early cold air is already on the map.
“Fall is the season where we usually see the most dramatic temperature and precipitation changes from month to month as we transition towards winter,” said Chris Scott, chief meteorologist at The Weather Network.
“We’re already seeing extreme seesaw of temperatures starting to affect southern parts of the country; fall temperatures are off to an early start.”
