By Charles Lefebvre

Cold front bringing snow and wind to Medicine Hat

Jan 23, 2019 | 2:05 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB —Environment Canada is reminding Medicine Hat residents to be aware and stay safe in the winter conditions.

A blast of winter weather hit Medicine Hat and the surrounding area on Wednesday, causing some blowing snow and reduction in visibility.

“It was a pretty significant change in the weather today, as a cold front swept through the province,” said Kyle Fougere, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, over the phone from Edmonton. “It has brought with it a pretty good area of snow and northerly winds. The northerly winds are creating low visibility in the snow, there’s been reports of blowing snow in Medicine Hat and the surrounding area.”

Despite the weather, Fougere says Environment Canada will likely not be issuing a special weather advisory. Two advisories they would consider are a snowfall warning or a blowing snow advisory.

Fougere says snowfall warnings are only issued if they expect an area to receive at least 10 centimetres of snow. Currently, the area is expected to receive between two and four centimetres.

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Fougere adds even though there is blowing snow, the criteria is not there to issue an advisory.

“If we expect visibility to be below a kilometre over a widespread area, we would probably issue a blowing snow advisory,” he said. “What we’re seeing right now, the worst conditions in the Medicine Hat area is probably a kilometre and a half visibility to two and a half kilometres on average.”

Fougere says even though there is no advisory, motorists should still drive with caution.

Temperatures are expected to return to above seasonal temperatures by Thursday, and stay above average until Sunday, when another cold front is expected to come through the area.