350px|thumb|right|Average trajectory of a clipper
An Alberta clipper, also known as an Alberta low, Alberta cyclone, Alberta lee cyclone, Canadian clipper, or simply clipper, is a fast-moving low-pressure system that originates in or near the Canadian province of Alberta just east of the Rocky Mountains and tracks east-southeastward across southern Canada and the northern United States to the North Atlantic Ocean.
Alberta clippers constitute a major winter-season storm track for extratropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere, tracking across the continent in 2–3 days while affecting weather in parts of the Prairies and central provinces of Canada, as well as the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and New England portions of the United States. They are associated with cold, dry continental air masses and generate small-scale, short-lived weather events typically producing of snow in a three to six hour period. However, they can precipitate sudden temperature drops and sharp winds leading to local blizzard conditions, especially when interacting with moisture from the Great Lakes.
Etymology
thumb|Clipper barque Spirit of the Age 1854 by [[Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton|T. G. Dutton]]
Alberta clippers take their name from Alberta, the province from which they appear to descend, and from clipper ships of the 19th century, one of the fastest ships of that time.
The term was coined in the late 1960s by Rheinhart Harms, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Weather Service Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who noted the rapid speed of these snow-producing storms as they moved across the Dakotas from Alberta towards the Great Lakes. Its colloquial use spread among U.S. and Canadian weather forecasters in the early 1970s. It entered the scientific literature around the 1990s.
Storms beginning their southward treks from other Canadian provinces, far less common than clippers, are often still referred to as clippers, or by the fanciful names Saskatchewan screamer, Manitoba mauler or Ontario scari-o.
Formation
thumb|right|Typical winter storm tracks in Minnesota.
A clipper originates when warm, moist winds from the Pacific Ocean come into contact with the mountains in the provinces of British Columbia and then Alberta.
Snowfall amounts with these systems tend to be small (on the order of ), as the relative lack of moisture and quick movement inhibit substantial snowfall totals. However, several factors could combine to produce higher snow accumulations ( or more). These factors include access to more moisture (which raises precipitation amounts), slower system movement (which increases snowfall duration), and colder temperatures (which increases the snow to water ratio). The southern and eastern shores of the Great Lakes often receive enhanced snowfall from Alberta clippers during the winter, due to lake enhancement. The lake-effect snow can add substantially to the overall snowfall total.