We've all been enjoying the recent Canadian barbeque weather, but it's time to put those grill covers back on.

Starting Tuesday, January 9, temperatures in the Foothills are forecasted to dip to -12C, continuing to fall after sunset to around the -20C mark.

Warning Preparedness Meteorologist with Environment Canada Natalie Hasell, says this is due to winds coming out of the north instead of the west.

"We have a low pressure system building into central Alberta, this low will eventually move off and in its place we will see an arctic ridge build, with cold air from the arctic associated to the front sweeping through southern Alberta."

Hasell says along with lows in the -20C range will come wind chill as winds gust up to 40 km/h.

A few flurries are also in store Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday.

"For the first part of the forecast we're not really looking at very significant accumulations at all. We do have periods of snow in the forecast with a second system coming through towards Thursday or so, and we might see a little bit more accumulation then."

She encourages drivers to prepare for changing road conditions given the warm weather we've had.

"Anything that melts right now will freeze overnight because temperatures are forecast to stay below zero, and then you'll have snow on top of that. Road conditions could be very different during the day today than overnight, and further complicated by snow on top of that."

It's not all bad news though, as temperatures are forecast to rebound above zero on Sunday, January 14.

 

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