Warming trend starts Wednesday, with Friday's high three times warmer than average

A big warm up on Wednesday for Calgary A big warm up on Wednesday for Calgary. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

Despite similar morning temperatures, Wednesday began with much better weather conditions than Tuesday, with dry road conditions reported across most of Calgary.

There were still some lingering effects from the early week precipitation across southern Alberta, but Wednesday’s sunshine and warmer temperatures will take care of that by mid-day.

A shifting weather pattern will introduce a persistent westerly flow across southern Alberta for the next few days, elevating both daytime highs and overnight lows.

In Calgary, the wind is expected to shift from the southwest to the west on Wednesday with chinook-like conditions throughout the region.

In the southwest corner of Alberta, wind gusts are expected to reach 40 to 70 km/h which is well below the threshold for a wind warning to be issued for that area.

A strong ridge of high pressure will sit over the western provinces for the end of the week – extending as far north as the territories.

Wednesday’s high of 9 C in Calgary will be the coldest day of the next three, despite an overnight temperature that is as warm as the average daytime high for this time of year.

Most communities in southern Alberta will see a similar trend with temperatures increasing until Friday.

By the end of the week, Calgary is expected a high of 15 C which is three times warmer than the average high of 5 C.

That ridge will start to break down on Sunday and temperatures are expected to dip below seasonal for the start of next week.