**UPDATE: Environment Canada has now ended a previous freezing rain warning in effect for the area to the North and Northeast of Edmonton. Please check with Environment Canada for the current status of warnings and watches.**
Environment Canada has issued a freezing rain warning for Fort Saskatchewan, Sturgeon County, Northern Strathcona County and Lamont County.
The Weather agency says patchy freezing rain will end later this morning, and warns surfaces like highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery.
“We first issued the warning just after midnight last night, and that did include both Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan. However, the warning has since been ended for the city of Edmonton, but remains in effect for the Fort Saskatchewan area,” said Environment Canada and Climate Change meteorologist Erin Staunton.
“That said, we do expect the freezing rain to be done with … by about 7 or 8 a.m.,” said Staunton.
“Give yourself a little bit of extra time to get to where you’re going and check out the weather forecasts before you leave. Keep up to date on all the latest watches and warnings for your area,”
Staunton said the patchy freezing rain is, “likely causing some slippery road conditions through the area.”
Environment Canada said freezing rain warnings are issued when rain falling in sub-zero temperatures creates ice build-up and icy surfaces.
“Say the road surface is below zero and you have liquid rain landing on it, it will freeze on contact and then things will ice up pretty quickly,” Staunton relayed.
Below: Photo credit Winter Art by Flickr user Appalachian dreamer, used under Creative Commons Attribution license.
