There’s nothing like a southern Alberta chinook. The temperature can jump 15 or 20 degrees in a few hours, the snow starts melting, and everyone’s out in a light jacket in the middle of winter.
The catch comes later. All that meltwater has to go somewhere, and when the chinook breaks down, or the sun goes down, it freezes again. A street that was wet and slushy at 3 p.m. can be a sheet of ice by 8 p.m. or early the next morning.
Where the refreeze hits first
- Shaded sidewalks and the north side of buildings
- Parking lots, where melt pools in low spots
- Bridges and overpasses, which cool from above and below
- Untreated side streets and alleys
- Your own driveway, where meltwater runs off the roof and pools
What to watch
- Wind direction. When the warm west wind swings to the north or east, colder air is on its way back.
- Temperature dropping toward 0°C in the late afternoon or evening.
- A clear sky after sunset. Clear nights cool off fast.
What to do
- Keep a bucket of grit or ice melt by the door during chinook season.
- Clear meltwater away from walkways while it’s still liquid.
- Give yourself extra time the morning after a chinook, even if the roads looked fine the day before.
Watch the temperature and wind direction change in real time at westlethbridgeweather.com, and read more about our winds on the Wind in Lethbridge page.
Related: Live conditions at West Lethbridge Weather · Wind in Lethbridge