A weather system developing in southern Alberta will bring an area of snow to the mountain parks regions starting late tonight and continuing through the day on Friday, before tapering off on Friday night. Banff and northern parts of Kananaskis are expected to see the highest snowfall amounts, and communities indicated in the warning include Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, Kananaskis Village, Exshaw, Ghost Lake and Saskatchewan River Crossing.ย Snowfall with total amounts of about 4″ is expected.
The mountain regions could see up to 10 centimeters of wet, heavy snowfall, and Environment Canada is warning it could damage trees and have “significant impacts on people camping and traveling through the mountain parks region.”
Although these snowfall amounts may be highly variable, heavy wet snow on foliated trees may cause branches to break and have significant impacts to campers and those traveling by car on higher elevation roadways.
Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow. If visibility is reduced while driving, slow down, watch for taillights ahead and be prepared to stop.
The snow is expected to change to rain by Friday afternoon, with a high temperature of 54ยบF in the forecast for Banff.