snow
© Laurel L. Russwurm | Flickr
If you woke up in Alberta this morning, you might be mistaken for thinking it was December, or January, or at least still winter-time. As the rest of the country is starting to warm up and Canadians are digging out their sunscreen, sunglasses and summer shorts, it seems somebody has forgotten to tell Alberta about the change of seasons since there is summer snow in Alberta. That's right, while other parts of the country are experiencing extreme heat warnings, in Banff...it is snowing.

While several weather forecasts did predict snowfall in Southern Alberta this week, even Albertans have been surprised at how quickly the weather has turned, after experiencing sunny weather and temperatures of 22ºC in Calgary just a few short days ago. A snowfall warning for Banff National Park, Kananaskis and Canmore was issued by Environment Canada yesterday afternoon, and predicted upwards of 10 centimetres of snow in some areas.



It is annoying and frustrating for residents of southwestern Alberta that the summer is refusing to officially arrive, as the arrival of snow this morning led to poor highway conditions and travel disruptions. Environment Canada also warned that the heavy, wet snow may cause tree branches to break and will likely have a significant impact on anybody planning to travel through the area this weekend.

Although it is not an ideal situation for people trapped in the area, and snow in June is definitely not very 'summery', the photos and videos that have surfaced on Twitter this morning are undeniably beautiful.

While the photographs are pretty crazy, the videos are even more so! In several of the videos shared on Twitter by Canadians in the area, you would be forgiven for thinking it was the middle of winter!