If you’re hoping to get a jump on your long weekend travel, Environment and Climate Change Canada has a warning for motorists: be prepared for some poor driving conditions as a storm system sweeps through the Calgary and Edmonton areas starting overnight Wednesday and into Thursday.

With 15 to 20 cm of snow forecast to fall in the Calgary area by the time the storm moves through the region Thursday evening, Environment Canada has issued a “special weather statement” for the city and surrounding areas.

“It could start as rain or rain snow mix. It continues overnight tonight and continues to tomorrow, till probably about dinnertime tomorrow. So five to 10 cm overnight starting there and then another five cm tomorrow,” said Global Calgary traffic and weather specialist, Leslie Horton.

While temperatures are expected to hover around the freezing mark, making it difficult to predict what total snowfall accumulations will be, meteorologists warn that snow may be heavy at times, creating reduced visibility and poor driving conditions and prompting a warning for motorists to allow extra time for travel.

Highway 2 and parts of Highway 1, in the Calgary area and west of the city, are expected to be amongst the hardest-hit areas.

The special weather statement covers an area stretching from just north of Fort Macleod in the south to Ponoka in the north, as well as Canmore in the west to Drumheller in the east.

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The city of Edmonton, which is not included in the special weather statement, is still expected to see some flurries starting late Wednesday afternoon with two to four cm of snow overnight and up to another four cm of snow on Thursday and into the evening.

“The majority of the snow is going to affect the areas from Red Deer further south, but we see a little bit still trailing up further west of Edmonton across the highway into the White Court area, with some scattered flurries still closer to Peace River for that (Thursday) morning commute,” said Global Edmonton weather specialist, Phil Darlington.

“As we progress through the morning into the afternoon, we see a little bit more of a focus of snow across the north, and there’s still likely to be some in and around the Edmonton area for the afternoon into the overnight, but overnight into Friday, most of that clears out, and we’re back to a mix of sun and cloud.”

With temperatures across much of southern and central Alberta expected to hit the mid to high single digits on Friday, the snow that does fall is expected to melt quickly, creating improved driving conditions in time for the Easter long weekend.

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Environment Canada is warning residents in much of Alberta and southern Saskatchewan to secure loose objects and expect damage as strong winds whip through, while leaving thousands of residents in the dark.

The warnings are in place for most areas from the Alberta-U. S. boundary to Fort McMurray and southwestern Saskatchewan with wind speeds between 90 and 110 km/h before they ease off on Sunday evening.

Special weather statements for wind have been posted for southeastern B.C., although a stronger warning is up for the Fraser Valley where gusts could reach 90 km/h.

The weather agency says high-sided vehicles could be pushed around by the wind, and there could be damage to roofs, fences, tress and soft shelters.

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Tanya Croft, a spokeswoman with Fortis Alberta, said in a statement that a fast-moving winter storm has left multiple power outages across the province, with an estimated 8,000 residents without power.

“Strong winds and heavy snow are causing downed power lines, trees contacting power lines and infrastructure damage,” read the statement.

Croft said residents are reminded to stay at least 10 metres away from downed power lines and avoid damaged electrical equipment.

Alberta power company ATCO also shows some power outages in northwestern Alberta.

British Columbia power utility BC Hydro says about 1,900 customers are without lights in the Southern Interior — about half of those customers are in Vernon.

Most of the outages are caused by trees and branches that brought down power lines, the utility says.

BC Hydro says it’s aiming to have the lights back on by later Sunday.

In southern Alberta, that wind may be accompanied by snow, including in Calgary, along the foothills, and in the areas of Banff, Strathmore, Waterton Lakes, and Vulcan, where up to 20 cm of snow will fall before it tapers off Sunday night.

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