The weather you feel at ground level usually follows what’s happening thousands of metres above us. Forecasters spend a lot of time looking at the upper atmosphere, because that’s where tomorrow’s weather is being set up.
You don’t need special charts to follow along. The sky gives you clues.
What to look for
- A chinook arch: a long, straight edge of cloud over the mountains with clear sky beneath. It means strong west winds up high, and often a chinook at the surface soon.
- High, thin cirrus streaking in from the west: often the first sign of a system arriving within a day or so.
- Lenticular clouds: smooth, lens-shaped clouds that seem to hang still over the foothills. They show strong winds flowing over the mountains.
- Fast-moving clouds while it’s calm at the ground: strong winds aloft that can mix down later, especially in the afternoon.
- Towering cumulus by late morning in summer: an unstable atmosphere, and a good chance of afternoon thunderstorms.
What to do
- Look west in the morning. In Lethbridge, most of our weather arrives from the mountains.
- If the upper clouds and the surface wind are moving in very different directions, expect a change.
Read more on our How to Read the Weather page, and compare what you see in the sky with the live readings at westlethbridgeweather.com.
Related: How to Read the Weather · Live conditions at West Lethbridge Weather
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