This morning Cochranites woke up to their first real taste of snow and winter driving for the season.

Cochrane is forecasted to see a steady snowfall throughout much of the day and into the evening sandwiched by heavy wind. Still, Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist Kyle Fougere says all the major active weather is happening around Cochrane.

"Cochrane itself is in an area that's basically surrounded by warnings," explains Fougere. "To the west, we have snowfall warnings for higher snowfall amounts of up to 15 centimetres and areas to the south all have wind warnings for extreme wind gusts of up to about 90 km/ hour."

Cochrane is currently forecasted to see about 5 centimetres of the white stuff and wind gusts of up to 60 km/ hour

Fougere says that while we aren't currently under a severe weather watch or warning, that could very well change due to the level of activity surrounding us.

"Things can change pretty rapidly especially as you get into higher terrain," explains Fougere. " You might see snowfall amounts increase significantly over a short area. If anyone is travelling today they should really be aware that this is really a potent system and it's going to be messy all over the province."

While we've been treated to pretty mild temperatures in November so far, Fougere says that those days in the mid-teens are likely in our rearview.

"This is a bit of a change but it's back to what we would typically see by mid-November," explains Fougere. " Conditions are expected to go below zero for the next couple of days and by Wednesday we're looking at an overnight low of minus 16 so it will be quite a bit cooler than we've seen in a while."

Fougere says it's common to see more accidents on the road as Albertans readjust to winter road conditions. He's strongly urging motorists to slow down, allow for safe spacing between vehicles and be prepared for winter-related driving emergencies.