A week-long warm trend starts Friday, including overnight lows hovering near freezing

In the wake of unusually cold temperatures, southern Alberta is expecting a week of warm weather heading in to the holidays.

A dominant ridge of high pressure will support westerly flow across the southern Rockies, elevating temperatures from the foothills through to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.

Precipitation originating in the northeast Pacific basin will track across the southern borders of B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan starting Friday.

As always, both the atmospheric temperatures and the surface temperatures will dictate whether that precipitation falls and lands as rain, snow, and/or a mixture.

With above-seasonal daytime highs and overnight lows forecast to persist across southern Alberta, there is a chance of rain or even freezing rain falling late Saturday or early Sunday.

With colder surface temperatures, either form of precipitation could result in rapidly deteriorating road conditions.

Roads that are still snow covered will likely become slushy and/or icy over the next few days due to accelerated melting.

Sidewalks, pathways, and parking lots adjacent to grassy areas (e.g. lawns) might need to be treated with de-icing agents early in the day as a freeze-thaw cycle is likely for the next few days.