Winter is still nearly a month away, but parts of Canada are already projected to see winter-like weather heading into the weekend.
Warnings and watches were issued Friday in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Alberta and B.C., according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Saskatchewan is expected to be extremely cold, with wind chills forecast to plummet near -40 C in Saskatoon and parts of central Saskatchewan on Friday morning, according to Environment Canada.
Northern Alberta and northern British Columbia have snowfall warnings, CTV’s Your Morning meteorologist Kelsey McEwen said, and winter storm watches are in effect as of Friday morning along the north coast of B.C.
Northwest of Edmonton, approximately 20 to 30 centimetres of snow is expected in most areas, but some could see up to 50 cm.
Snow squalls are expected to hit areas off the Great Lakes, according to McEwen.
The Sault Ste Marie and St. Joseph Island areas off Lake Superior are expected to see up 50 cm of snow by Saturday night. Lake Huron and Georgian Bay areas could see snow exceeding 75 centimetres by late Sunday.
Some areas further east won’t have as big of a problem with snow but will see strong winds instead. Parts of the Atlantic region have wind warnings for some areas, with maximum gusts of 110 km/h, according to Environment Canada.
The latest forecasts come ahead of what is expected to be a generally colder winter in Canada, compared to last year when the country saw its warmest winter on record, according to The Weather Network’s seasonal forecast.
With files from The Canadian Press