What’s an Alberta Clipper? More on storm bringing snow to Maine [Video]

If you’ve been watching Maine’s Total Weather forecasts in the leadup to a winter storm that arrives Wednesday night, you may have heard meteorologists referring to the storm as an Alberta Clipper.An Alberta Clipper is a fast-moving, low-pressure system that moves southeast out of the Canadian province of Alberta in southwestern Canada and through the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes region, usually during the winter.This low-pressure area is usually accompanied by light snow, strong winds and colder temperatures. Another variation of the same system is called a Saskatchewan Screamer.While the leading edge of the Alberta Clipper will first arrive in the mountains of Maine late Wednesday evening, conditions will start to intensify at around midnight.Wet, heavy snow could fall at a rate of an inch per hour at times in inland areas during the overnight hours while rain falls in coastal communities.But as temperatures drop early Thursday morning, snow will …