Rare and exceptional July snowfall across this region of Canada

A potent system parked over the northern reaches of Canada will spawn some rare and exceptional July snowfall for some areas.

Accumulations could exceed 5 cm in spots across an area that hasn’t seen snow during the month of July in more than 15 years.

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The communities of Norman Wells and Deline have already reported snowfall on Saturday, July 25, and there’s more on the way for parts of the Northwest Territories.

A large area of low pressure has drawn some of the northern hemisphere’s coldest temperatures south out of the Arctic.

This region, known as the Sahtu, has seen extremely strong winds over the past 48 hours as a strong cold front pushed through the region.

Gusts as high as 80 km/h brought a rapid temperature drop to the area, falling more than 15 degrees below seasonal for this point in the summer.

Weather models highlighted the potential for as much as 5-10 cm of short-lived wet snow through the remainder of the weekend, largely across higher terrain.

Summertime snowfall occurs from time to time across this portion of Northern Canada, though July is traditionally the least-snowy month for the northern Northwest Territories. The largest July snowfall on record in Norman Wells was 2 cm on July 1, 1974.

June is the most common summer month to record snowfall across this region, though it’s still rare at a frequency of about once every five years.

During an average year, Norman Wells’ snow-free period stretches from mid-May to mid-September.

The rare July snowfall will carry some benefits, including much-needed precipitation to combat a growing drought, improved air quality, and less extreme wildfire behaviour.