Rocky View County and Airdrie residents should be prepared for the long haul when it comes to riding out the winter weather in 2023, warns Kevin MacKay, a meteorologist for The Weather Network.
“There are signs spring might be a little bit more sluggish in arriving,” he stated.
That being said, MacKay predicted local residents should enjoy fairly milder winter weather over the next month.
“January is looking a lot better than you had in December,” he said. “For the last couple of weeks, we have seen the Polar Vortex basically sitting over central Canada, and that is all thanks to a trough we had over Hudson Bay.”
For the next three to four weeks, MacKay said that trough is likely going to be sitting over the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
“What that is going to do is prevent any Arctic air from coming directly south from the high Arctic,” he said. “And it’s going to drive that warmer Pacific flow into B.C. and parts of Alberta.”
MacKay, who specializes in western Canadian weather systems, said Calgary and surrounding areas are always interesting to study from a meteorological point-of-view because no other region in Canada – or the world for that matter – has such massive weather swings.
“When you have the Arctic air in place along the foothills, that’s when you have those drastic temperature swings,” he stated. “It’s going to want to stay there, but then you get this Pacific flow coming in, the battleground is always going to be right over Calgary.”
MacKay noted (as of Dec. 26) that temperatures in the Rocky View County and Airdrie areas had experienced a 42-degree swing in temperature from -32 C to 10 C in just one week.
“It has been pretty incredible to see just over last week,” he acknowledged.
According to MacKay, for the next month or so, the Pacific warm air trough driven by La Niña should affect the region, but the Arctic High, also known as the Polar Vortex, would come roaring back in early February.
And, he said, the deep freeze would likely stay all the way through March, delaying the beginning of spring.
MacKay’s message? Enjoy the mild weather while it lasts in January, but don’t be fooled into thinking spring will be here anytime soon.
“Instead of getting milder spurts into March, you might instead get deeper (cold) plunges,” he predicted.
