Airdrie voters face chilly start to referendum day after windy weekend

AIRDRIE · Voters in Airdrie heading to the polls for Alberta's provincial referendum Monday will face a mainly cloudy day with a high of 10 C and considerably lighter winds than over the weekend. The morning wind chill will make it feel closer to -6 C, with winds reaching up to 15 km/h, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada's forecast. This follows a blustery Saturday where a yellow wind warning was in effect for Rocky View County near Airdrie and Crossfield, with gusts reaching up to 90 km/h. At least five unplanned power outages were reported across Airdrie Saturday evening, though their causes were not confirmed and they later disappeared from FortisAlberta's outage map.

Polls are scheduled to remain open until 8 p.m. Monday. Residents can find information about their assigned voting locations and identification requirements in voting guides. The skies are expected to clear late in the evening, with temperatures dropping to -5 C and an overnight wind chill of -7.

Warmer weather is in the forecast later in the week. Tuesday will bring mainly sunny skies and a high of 11 C, though a morning wind chill near -7 is expected. Wednesday is forecast to be the warmest day, with sunny skies and a high of 17 C, which is eight degrees above the seasonal daytime normal of 9 C. The warmer conditions will be short lived. Thursday will remain sunny but with a high of only 10 C before cloud cover increases overnight. Friday marks the start of a colder stretch, with cloudy skies and a daytime high of just 6 C, followed by a 60 per cent chance of rain showers or flurries overnight as temperatures fall to -3 C. The weekend will be even colder. Saturday's forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud, a 30 per cent chance of flurries and a high of just 2 C, with temperatures expected to plunge to -8 C overnight. Sunday will not offer much relief, with a mix of sun and cloud and a daytime high of just 1 C. That represents a 16-degree difference between Wednesday's forecast high and Sunday's.

With files from DiscoverAirdrie