The Foothills could be in for a cold and snowy winter compared to last year.

According to Accuweather, several arctic air masses are expected to come across the prairies which could bring a normal to above normal amounts of snowfall to the region.

Brett Anderson, senior meteorologist with Accuweather, says the worst will hit in the new year.

"As we get into January some of those Arctic air masses will come down across the region so we're expecting much colder conditions in January and February especially compared to last year."

He adds December doesn't look terribly cold but could be windier than normal with Chinook type winds as a few storm systems move through.

Snowfall amounts will differ between the prairies and the foothills.

"Overall throughout much of the prairies we believe snowfall will end up below normal however closer to where we are we get those fronts coming through and the help of the up flow winds into the foothills we tend to see more snow than they do further to the east."

He adds it should be a good start to the season for ski hills in the mountains and BC as they should be able to establish a good base early in the season.