Heavy rainfall forecast for Calgary through the weekend

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 12:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 19

Calgary is forecast to get a large drenching of rainfall successful a abbreviated magnitude of clip this weekend, but the metropolis says nary flooding implicit riverbanks is expected. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada said successful a peculiar upwind connection that it expects the rainfall to commencement falling precocious Friday and proceed until aboriginal Sunday, with the heaviest rainfall forecast to autumn on the Alberta foothills. 

The bureau said it expects 50 to 100 millimetres by Sunday day with immoderate areas, particularly on the confederate foothills, to spot betwixt 100-200 millimetres with the rain turning to snowfall successful mountainous areas.

"It's going to beryllium bringing rather a spot of moisture into confederate Alberta starting Friday done the day and past continuing astatine times precise heavy done the play earlier wrapping up connected Sunday. So we're expecting a precise soggy play for the Calgary country toward the remainder of the foothills and further southbound successful the state arsenic well," said Christy Climenhaga, a idiosyncratic with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The state issued a precocious streamflow advisory for the Elbow River downstream of the Glenmore Reservoir connected Thursday.

The metropolis says it is preparing for a important accumulation — but is not expecting immoderate communities to flood.

Sandy Davis, who leads the City of Calgary's stream engineering team, says determination could beryllium localized flooding successful immoderate of the low-lying parkland areas and pathway underpasses. 

"So we're seeing immoderate of that debased level effect of a precocious river, but we're not anticipating flooding conditions," she said.

"But it does look similar … it's going to beryllium a important rainfall."

Normal outpouring travel connected rivers

In anticipation of the play rainfall, the Glenmore Reservoir is being lowered to marque country to store stream water, truthful that arsenic the stream rises the travel tin beryllium released downstream of the dam, Frank Frigo, the city's manager of biology management, said in a release.

"Although important stream flooding is not expected successful Calgary, we are preparing for higher than forecasted conditions," helium said.

The metropolis is reminding Calgarians to workout caution astir riverbanks, pass children astir the information of fast-moving water, enactment distant from immoderate closed pathways and from immoderate low-lying flooded areas adjacent the river.

This play marks the day of the grounds flood of 2013 that caused billions of dollars successful damage. But compared to 12 years ago, this weekend's upwind volition dispersed moisture implicit a overmuch larger area, the outpouring play has been drier, and the upland snowpack is already mostly melted, Davis said.

"The metropolis is acold much prepared present than we were successful 2013 to woody with floods of that size. So we've had important concern and strides guardant successful the resilience that we person been capable to enactment successful spot successful the city," she said.

"From things similar putting connected the gates connected the crest of the Glenmore Dam to gathering flood barriers passim the metropolis to the province's completion this twelvemonth of the Springbank offstream reservoir."