By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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Red Deer and central Alberta expecting wintery wallop on Friday

Oct 15, 2020 | 9:17 AM

Red Deer and other parts of central Alberta are now under a snowfall warning.

The special weather statement issued by Environment Canada early Thursday morning was updated to a snowfall warning at 3:30 p.m.

Accumulations of 10-15 centimetres of snow are expected for the following areas by Friday afternoon.

• Camrose Co. near Bashaw and Meeting Creek
• City of Red Deer
• Co. of Paintearth near Halkirk and Big Knife Prov. Park
• Co. of Stettler near Big Valley
• Co. of Stettler near Botha and Gadsby
• Co. of Stettler near Byemoor and Endiang
• Co. of Stettler near Donalda
• Co. of Stettler near Stettler Nevis and Rochon Sands
• Flagstaff Co. near Forestburg and Galahad
• Lacombe Co. near Clive Alix and Mirror
• Lacombe Co. near Eckville
• Lacombe Co. near Lacombe Blackfalds and Bentley
• Ponoka Co. near Ponoka and Maskwacis
• Red Deer Co. near Elnora Lousana and Delburne
• Red Deer Co. near Penhold Innisfail and Bowden
• Red Deer Co. near Pine Lake
• Red Deer Co. near Spruce View and Red Lodge Prov. Park
• Red Deer Co. near Sylvan Lake and Stephansson House

The warning is also in effect for Rocky Mountain House and Drayton Valley.

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“An approaching weather system from B.C. will bring heavy snow to parts of western and central Alberta starting Friday morning,” the warning states. “The highest snowfall amounts should fall southwest of a line extending from Beaverlodge to Red Deer and south towards Kananaskis. Total accumulations are expected to approach 10 cm by late Friday. However local amounts of 15 cm or more may fall over the higher elevations.”

In addition to the snow, once it finally hits, northerly winds are expected to deliver gusts of 60 to 80 km/h. The abrupt change in weather could lead to hazardous driving conditions.

The severe weather all stems from a Pacific low Environment Canada says moved off the coast Thursday morning and rolling through that province and into Alberta overnight.

For southern Alberta, showers are possible ahead of the snow with temperatures expected to initially be well above zero.

For Red Deer, overnight, it will be windy up to 15 km/h with a low of -3°C and a -8°C windchill. On Friday, with the snow, the forecast high is 0°C with a wind chill of -8°C. The record snowfall for Red Deer on Oct. 16 is 6.4 cm which fell in 2006. The record low temperature for Oct. 16 is -10°C back in 1951.

For Oct. 16, the average high is 11.8°C and the average low is -3.0°C.

For the weekend in Red Deer, sun and a high of -2°C is anticipated for Saturday, dipping to -16°C overnight, and then clouds with a high of -4°C is on the table for Sunday.

The weather advisory is subject to change.