Josh Classen's forecast: Warm and melty again, but cloudy and breezy

We should get back to some sunshine in the Edmonton area and across much of central and eastern Alberta for Christmas day.

But, it'll be a cloudy and (at times) breezy day today.

Wind is picking up this morning & should be around 15-20 km/h with some gusts in the 30-40 km/h range through the morning and early this afternoon.

AND...there's slight risk of a shower in the Edmonton region late this morning or early this afternoon.

Areas to the northeast, from around Fort Saskatchewan to Cold Lake have a better chance at seeing some showers or freezing rain.

In the city, surface temperatures will probably be above zero IF (and when) that precip comes through, so the risk of freezing rain in the city is fairly minimal.

That said - we're in for another day of melting, and sidewalks/side streets/parking lots that don't have some "oatmealy" snow on them will turn slick and icy again late this afternoon/evening.

Outside of that risk of freezing rain to the NE, no major issues are expected for anyone travelling today, tomorrow or Thursday.

Mild air will hang over the province again today and it should push further east. East-central Alberta will jump to highs around the freezing mark later today after a cool Monday.

Temperatures hit a high of 4.5 C in Edmonton on Monday and we'll be 3 or 4 degrees above zero in Edmonton again today.

There's a gradual cooldown that'll start to take shape after today and we'll be back to the -5 C range for highs by the weekend.

But, Wednesday and Thursday should still be warmer than average with afternoon highs right around 0 C and mornings in the -5 C range.

The cooling trend continues through next week with daytime highs closer to -10 C for Tue (New Year's Eve) through to the end of the week.

***on a personal note - i'm off for a lengthy holiday break after today, so this will be the last WxBlog for a while. Back to work Jan 8.

Here's the forecast for Edmonton and area:

Today - Mostly cloudy. Slight risk of a shower late this morning or early this afternoon.

High: 3 C

Tonight - Clearing overnight.

9 p.m.: -1 C

Wednesday - Mainly sunny.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Morning Low: -4 C

Afternoon High: 1 C

Thursday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -6 C

Afternoon High: -1 C

Friday - Mostly cloudy.

Morning Low: -8 C

Afternoon High: -3 C

Saturday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: -9 C

Afternoon High: -5 C

Sunday - Mostly cloudy. 30% chance of light snow.

Morning Low: -10 C

Afternoon High: -5 C