Explaining Alberta clippers

AccuWeather's Bree Guy explains the weather setup, usual locations and traits of Alberta clippers.

Transcript

00:00All right, we're breaking down what Alberta Clippers are.

00:04We are dealing with a weaker one, but these little storms can be quite tricky and sneaky.

00:10The overall setup for an Alberta Clipper, they typically originate from central Canada.

00:14This is an area that is typically very dry during this time of year.

00:18That arctic air builds and we're able to pull it further south with this Alberta Clipper

00:24as it rides the jet stream, pulling with it that energy and of course that colder air.

00:29But it is important to know where an Alberta Clipper starts.

00:33There is limited moisture across this zone, like I just mentioned earlier.

00:37That in turn relates to how fast these storms do move and they typically originate from

00:43the Canadian province of Alberta, hence the name, and they are most common in late fall

00:49and winter.

00:50They often do produce gusty winds.

00:52With that limited moisture source, we typically don't see a lot of snow falling from these

00:57things.

00:58They run for a long duration, mostly they're across the northern tier of the nation.

01:00A lot of the times though, they do run into milder air out ahead of it.

01:05This in turn could help boost the storm if it does make its way right to the eastern

01:11seaboard.

01:12We can typically even see maybe a nor'easter or a strong coastal storm sometimes as Alberta

01:18Clippers make their way south and east.

01:20Milder air here with that ocean water out ahead of it certainly helps to boost these

01:24storms along.

01:25Though we do have an Alberta Clipper that we are tracking now.

01:28This is Wednesday night through Friday.

01:30It is going to be a quick hitter like a typical Alberta Clipper and it's not going to dump

01:35a lot of snow until it reaches the Appalachians, just south of Johnstown and down through the

01:40mountainous terrain of West Virginia.

01:43We are anticipating a nice little thump of snow, so heads up, that could cause some travel

01:48woes if you are heading out.