Okotoks is officially forecasted to see its first snowfall of the season.

The town is expected to see a rain-snow mix with a high of five on Thursday.

Brian Proctor, Meteorologist with Environment Canada says this is due to an elongated trough of low pressure over the province.

"A cold low has sort of settled across British Columbia, Alberta, and even Saskatchewan over the last 72 hours," he says. "The whole flow pattern is gradually edging eastwards and sagging south, so it's allowing the really cold core of air in north central Alberta to sag down into the Foothills over the next 24 to 36 hours."

Proctor says although we could some snow, it's expected to change to rain by the afternoon, but that's not a guarantee.

"When the sun gets a little bit higher, the precipitation tends to evaporate, and as it does that it takes up energy and cools the air mass. So the idea of being optimistic, and trying to switch that precipitation back over to rain often times occurs a little slower than we would have initially anticipated."

The good news is temperatures are expected to moderate over the weekend.

As for seasonal models, Proctor shares we could have a bit of a tougher time this winter as a La Nina develops in the pacific.

"During La Nina conditions we tend to be a little cooler than normal on average, and precipitation can be a bit of a mixed bag. So at this point we're seeing a mild fall to begin with, and falling into a cooler winter, probably a little bit more snow. However, there's really not a clear statistical signal on the precipitation amount at this time."

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