Canada's Winter Weather Is Back & The First Major Snowfall Dropped 40 cm Of Snow (PHOTOS)

'Tis the season, right? ❄️

​Backyard in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan buried under snow. Right: Dog walking through a snow-covered backyard in Airdrie, Alberta.

Backyard in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan buried under snow. Right: Dog walking through a snow-covered backyard in Airdrie, Alberta.

Senior Writer

Winter weather just burst back onto the scene and parts of the country had to deal with a snowstorm dropping up to 40 centimetres of snow!

The Weather Network shared that the Prairies got hit with the country's first major snowfall and it caused multiple days of treacherous driving conditions, power outages and road closures.

It all started on Friday, October 21, in Alberta when heavy snow moved into the province, dropping a reported 15 to 22 centimetres in Cochrane and 27 centimetres in the Kananaskis Valley.

Also, the storm brought more than 20 centimetres of snow to Calgary over the weekend.

Then, the system moved east to Saskatchewan and Manitoba on Sunday, October 23 and Monday, October 24.

A pattern reversal across North America allowed for the first Colorado low of the season to develop and target the region with heavy snow, rain and strong winds continuing into Tuesday, October 25.

Following the storm, Environment Canada in Saskatchewan tweeted, "Heavy, wet snow and gusty winds caused treacherous wintery conditions, leading to multiple long-lived road closures and power outages."

It also reported that Moose Jaw, which is less than an hour west of Regina, got between 30 and 40 centimetres of snow!

Other parts of the province got between two and 20 centimetres of snow as the weather system moved through.

What is Canada's winter weather forecast?

Canada's winter forecast put out by the Farmers' Almanac calls for cold temperatures and intense storms throughout the country.

Arctic air could cause temperatures to plummet to minus 40 C in January and a storm could drop up to 60 centimetres of snow in eastern regions in February.

The forecast from the Old Farmer's Almanac predicted "bouts of sneaky cold" along with major snowstorms in some parts of the country and a more wet than white season elsewhere.

Also, The Weather Network's new version of Canada's winter forecast calls for "a quicker start to winter" than normal this year with widespread colder-than-normal temperatures!

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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