Morning all

Still not feeling great, but a quick report - we have had about 3 inches overnight, more than we got in the "storm" earlier in the week, which was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. I don't think it's going to hang around though, temps are currently hovering around freezing, but are set to warm up (7C today), so by Tuesday the snow cover will be pretty much gone IMO. Very noticeable at this time of year how the sun is getting stronger, direct sun on the snow is melting it very quicky in the middle of the day. Looking at the longer range forecast into early March it could all be getting a bit messy - above zero highs in the day but freezing at night, with rain/snow mixing. I have to confess that once we've been skiing I'll be thinking about Spring, that might be premature however

Some absolutely frigid conditions in other parts of Canada this week, particularly the Prairies. I heard one radio broadcast talking of windchill up to -50C , at which temperature exposed skin freezes in a matter of minutes. Sometimes I'm quite relieved the Great Lakes give us a more temperate climate.

It certainly is cold Tally, when you consider the 'average' high for Calgary at the start of March is +1c. Mind you 'average' temps tend not to mean very much in Calgary! Looking at the forecast, you might just scrape above freezing tomorrow but otherwise the outlook is for more cold.

From Alberta through northern Ontario it's a very cold start to the new month with temps generally at least 10c below average. It's -31c in Saskatoon right now with a -42c wind chill. Brutal.

Over in Southern Ontario we seem to have gotten locked into a pattern of a few cold days followed by a few milder days and then back to cold again - a typical early Spring seesaw. Just entering a chilly couple of days right now with sub zero temps but it will be back up above zero over the weekend, with some rain around. Even more extreme temp swings farther east: Charlottetown, PEI seeing a high of 0c today and then a bitterly cold high of -17c tomorrow. These early Spring airmasses can be some of the coldest of the year in the Maritimes.

Nice piece from Brett Anderson here, including a quick look at temperature and precipitation anomalies over Canada in the winter just past: the major talking point was the amazing warmth over NE Canada, this was very much a result of the very mild first half of Winter, something we covered on this thread at the time.

Morning all, glad to have heating on full bore in the office this morning as it's -10c outside with the w/c approaching -15. As you said Graeme, we're in a pattern on 3 days cold, 3 mild right now and it sure is cold. However, the snow - which has stuck around since early January has now all gone not so sad to be fair, after 2 months of ice and snow accumulation it's actually a nice situation to be in. Not ready just yet to say goodbye to winter though and as March goes on they'll still be a good chance for accumulations.

Looking ahead to a wet weekend in store for much of the GTA with persistant rain and cold temps as well, potentially thoroughly miserable! The rain perhaps changing to snow come Sunday but i'd doubt if any of it will stick.

Here's Brett Anderson's initial Spring forecast calling for above average temps for Northern & Eastern Canada again but a near normal season for most of populated Canada -http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/46464/my-spring-2011-forecast.asp.

Take Care

Not much of a Chinook wind...more of a failed Chinook! Or the Chinook wind that never was! now -21C with ice-crystals.

What a wet 36hrs we look like having in store for most of Southern Ontario with heavy rain expected to bring well over an inch to most locales and even more in one or two spots. Such is the concern that EC have issued a rainfall warning for all of Southern Ontario including the City of Hamilton area -

City of Hamilton
3:37 PM EST Friday 04 March 2011
Rainfall warning for
City of Hamilton issued

..Significant rain tonight, Saturday and Saturday night..

A substantial rain event is slated to begin tonight as a front stalls on a line from Central Lake Huron through Georgian Bay tonight and Saturday. Plenty of moisture migrating northwards from the gulf of Mexico combined with decent lift along and ahead of the front will cause widespread rain, occasionally heavy, to envelop much of Southern Ontario. It will become heavier overnight in the southwest and then spread northeast affecting much of Southern Ontario on Saturday. Eastern Ontario will experience the heavier rainfall later Saturday into Saturday night. Widespread rainfall amounts of 25 to 40 mm are expected tonight through Saturday night. A few areas will likely exceed 50 mm.

The rain will change briefly to snow before ending Saturday night.

The warning criteria is 25 mm within 24 hours (fairly conservative criteria) based on the fact that runoff is more significant in areas where snow pack is minimal and the ground is still frozen.

Environment Canada is closely monitoring this situation and will update and issue warnings as necessary later today or tonight.

As long term watchers of weather in these parts know, heavy rainfall often causes flooding issues around the Dundas Conservation Area down into Hamilton due to the typography of the ground and the various creeks/rivers that flow off the escarpment into Lake Ontario. Tomorrow and tomorrow night are potentially classic flooding situations especially with the recent snowmelt and harder underground conditions. Not very pleasant!

We dry out on Sunday and turn colder briefly for one day before a milder Monday. At the minute the outlook stays in the same very changeable conditions right through to next Thursday with cold intersperced with mild and a rain/snow mix wherever precipation falls.

From Heavy Snow to Flooding in a week, welcome to Spring in Ontario!!! Further afield also watching closely at developments in the Southern 3rd of the U.S. this weekend as a cold front pushes down interacting with warmer air ahead giving the potential for some troublesome dangerous weather across these areas. Earlier last week, Tornadoes were already reported in OK and parts of the Mid-West as Tornado Alley starts to kick into gear for another season.

Have a great weekend everyone, i'm off to Hockey night in Canada in Toronto tomorrow night.....rain or no rain - it'll be a laugh!!!

Had a trip to Lake Louise Ski Hill and Fairmont Lake Louise Chateau to see ice-sculptures.

The temperature in downtown Calgary was a bone chilling -21c this morning with ice-crystals and at Lake Louise it was +1c at one point! It felt warm in the March sun! I even took my thick parka off a few times and now back in Calgary it is overcast -20C with ice-crystals which goes to show how the Chinook arch never really made it past Bow Valley, Canmore, Kananaskis or Cochrane. If only the Chinook could shift further 20/30miles eastwards!

Hello folks, we're drying out here in Southern Ontario after a soggy 36hrs or so. Heavy rain cuased some localised flooding issues and one or two accidents on the QEW yesterday morning perhaps down to people not slowing down enough in the rainy weather. Here's a list from Environment Canada of the rainfall totals from the storm and beside it the amount of snow that fell on that back edge -

Location             rainfall       snowfall

Grimsby mnt          37.7 mm          9 cm
Waterdown            36.0 mm
Windsor              25.8 mm         11 cm
London               27.4 mm         10 cm
Dorchester           28.4 mm         10 cm
Kitchener            17.1 mm          8 cm
Fergus               30.0 mm          7 cm
Drummond             24.2 mm         14 cm
Coldwater            34.6 mm         11 cm
Orillia              35.4 mm         13 cm (as of 5 AM)
Haliburton           27.0 mm         12 cm
Ottawa               23.4 mm         13 cm
Toronto Pearson a    18.4 mm          5 cm
Downsview            27.4 mm          6 cm


The following automatic stations can only report total precipitation
(including rain, freezing rain and melted snow).  Amounts received
were mostly in the form of rain with a few millimetres of melted
Snow and freezing rain.

Location              total precipitation (rain, freezing rain, snow)

Peterborough          43 mm
Cobourg               52 mm
Trenton               43 mm
Brockville            57 mm
Kingston              51 mm

Snowfall wasn't that big an issue for Southern Ontario as most of the colder energy in the storm passed to our SE and has today impacted QB and the Maritimes more as well as many parts of the interior N.E. of the United States with upto a foot of snow expected.

Here in Dundas, we got just over an inch of rain (26mm) followed by a changeover to snow which did, to my surprise, stick! 8cm of snow lying this morning although some of that has melted in the afternoon. Winter not done yet by the looks of things. However, turning milder and wetter for most of next week now with showers or longer spells of rain forecast after a drier start on Monday and Tuesday.

I'm noticing also that winter might just make a return to parts of Scotland this week which will be nice when your just starting to look forward to a warm spring (hopefully!). Any chance you'll see more snow in Fife Graeme?

Despite the poor weather conditions, i witnessed Toronto Maple Leafs inplode to the Chicago Black Hawks last night at the ACC! They were 3-0 down early in the 1st period and the final was 5-3 for Chicago. Great atmosphere as always up there though and a great night was had despite the defeat. Here's the Toronto Star's view on the match via the spec.com - a defeat which leaves the leafs (no pun intended!) 4 points off a play-off berth with 16 games to play in the regular NHL season -

http://www.thespec.com/sports/hockey/article/496906--leafs-learn-hard-lessons-in-home-loss-to-chicago.

Take Care

I'd love to be in Canada right now!  We were there in Feb/March two years ago, staying in Banff and it was an amazing -40c.  You couldn't go out without covering your mouth because it hurt to breathe and your nose hairs froze white.  Lake Louise, Sunshine and Norquay resorts all closed on a couple of days because the oil in the ski lifts froze, though it didn't bother us, we did a bit more sight-seeing.  The white frozen hair in the outdoor hot tub was amusing too.  It was altogether an amazing experience! 

Been a busy few days, just time for a quick post. That ended up being some snowstorm over southeastern Quebec in particular, with Sherbrooke picking up some 75cm of snowfall! Report here from CBC. There were also large snowfall totals over western New Brunswick with eastern NB picking up heavy rainfall (57mm in Fredericton). It proved to be quite a storm following on from Stewart's report on Sunday.

Possibility of some wintry weather over the next few days Stewart but I'd be very surprised to see anything siginificant here - the models are chopping and changing but the far north and of course higher ground look best bets for a late season snowfall. We've not had any snow here since early January but to be honest December provided enough for the whole winter!

Winter really is still hanging on in the Prairies and through Alberta - it's been a frigid start to March here. More springlike conditions may start to make inroads into Calgary over the next few days but it stays very cold further east.

Yeah, understand that, I would have been there a while ago.  Now I have become a bit Canadian and cannot wait for the warm up.  More on that shortly!

That's about right - hibernating and waiting for some warmth

Yeah, been there done that!

Well, I didn't mean to leave it a month between postings, but work has been kind of crazy the past while.  Added to the fact that, well, to be honest, I have got a bit fed up with the winter.  Kind of hard to understand when you don't have much snow, but when you have months and months of it, and a Feb with mean temps of -10c, it does get a bit to you.  I am eagerly anticipating Spring.  And I think I may have become Canadian.

Good news for me then - here's next weeks forecast!

•  


• -3°C


•  

Thu

• 10°C


•  


• 30%

Fri

• -6°C


• -14°C


•  

Sat

• 2°C


• -13°C


•  

Sun

• 7°C


• -4°C


•  

Mon

• 12°C


• 1°C


•  

Tue

• 10°C


• 1°C

Bar some trouble on Fri - we have a good thaw to look forward to!

Peter

July 2010 - June 2011 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 31.4c 26/08/10
Coldest Temperature: -31.2c 23/11/10
Days with thunderstorms: 8
Days with rain falling: 50
Days with snow falling: 45
Days with snow lying: 119
Maximum snow depth: 10" (25cm)
Current snow depth 10" (25cm)

Hello all, quick post - looks better for you in Calgary Peter and i confess occasionally i wish i lived in Florida during the winter (fleetingly, i'll add) I can see the attraction now of the snowbirds!

Horrible day yesterday across Southern Ontario with Rain, Sleet, Hail, Freezing Rain and Snow across the board. General rule of thumb was the further N & E you were the more wintery the flavour. Toronto saw a few hours of Wet Snow giving slushy deposits, here in the Hamilton area we were slightly milder (if you can use that term!) and it was all rain except an hour of fairly light Freezing drizzle. Temps reached 4c.

Today, it's milder still but not overly so and we still have rain or showers kicking about in lighter numbers though at the minute. The next system moves into the GTA & GHA tonight from the SE across Lake Ontario, which is an unusual direction! More rain, 10-15mm widely but it will start to gradually turn colder during Friday morning and there is a risk that the rain will turn to proper snow on it's Western flank bringing significant falls in one or two places. Current thinking is anywhere SW of Kitchener (i.e. London, Sarnia & Windsor) for this threat but it might just come far enough Westwards for the Hamilton area to be affected. One to watch!

Weekend is calmer, 0-3c and mostly sunny.

Take Care

Hello all I have enjoyed reading the reports all winter and a big thanks to all who contribute,,,,I have just booked up to visit the relatives first 2 weeks of October and this is far later than I have ever been out. I m heading to Uxbridge NE of Toronto and was just wondering what I could expect as typical weather at that time.....granted weather can never really be typical

Hi all, it's been and continues to be a very busy time in life with that four-letter word (work!) getting in the way of everything. Really quick post for now but hope to post more fully tomorrow. Currently 4c in Hamilton at lunchtime with cloudy skies after rain earlier. Temps now consistant above 0c so rain not snow, although we did see some lying snow on Friday afterall (if you remember the rain to snow scenario) that i posted about last week!!!

Outlook for temps to remain well above 0c with further rain expected into the weekend, maybe 12c by then in one or two spots. Take the cloud and rain away and it might just start to feel like Spring around here!

Edodfc - you'll have a great time out here in October. Temps usually between 10-15c by day but can be cooler/warmer dependant on wind direction (we have seen snow in October, doesn't usually lie!) Night temps just above 0c. Hard to say on weather type, Fall can be absolutely spectacular in the sunshine, but you also start seeing darker, dreich days too. Overall a very good time to visit as the humidity of high summer will have gone. Enjoy!

Take Care

Weekend greetings,

Like Stewart, been very busy at work of late and my posting has suffered as a result. But we're still on the Spring swings and roundabouts ride in terms of North American weather right now. Virtually all of eastern Canada is well below freezing right now (of course it's still night time!) but despite a mild blip in southern Ontario at the start of the coming week the general trend is for a cold week ahead with some wintry weather on offer. Temperatures over much of Southern Ontario will be struggling to get above freezing mid and late week and there's the possibility of some significant snow too. 

In fact Brett Anderson's look at the Euro long range models suggests the chilly pattern lasting well into April. I doubt many will be relishing that prospect: sloppy spring snowfalls V t-shirts, I know which option I prefer! Anyway, the usual pinch of salt warnings apply.

Meanwhile the Southern Plains are basking in lovely early Spring warmth with the 80s fahrenheit from Kansas south to Texas and east to the Mississippi including Memphis and New Orleans. The 60s reach as far north and west as Rapid City and Denver but farther north still winter is hanging on in the Canadian Prairies with the likes of Regina, SK likely to experience a sub-zero week ahead.

Regulars on here will be aware that Spring is often the heavy snowfall season in Calgary and indeed there's a snowfall warning out for today into tomorrow with up to 20cm expected. Staying cold here too this coming week. If you are looking for more spring-like weather in Canada your best bet is coastal BC where Vancouver will be in the 9-12c for maxes this week. 

Stewart, watched the Jays/Yankees Spring Training game yesterday (a 5-5 draw) - the Jays really do have some exciting young players. While I don't expect the likes of Brett Lawrie to make the major league team this Spring I'm sure he'll be called up in the summer. Exciting season in prospect in what I (and many others) think will be a very competitive AL East this year (with Boston as favourites).

I see we've been discussing the best time to visit Southern Ontario. I would definitely go along with the Fall, either September or October depending on whether you want some late summer warmth or a mix of warm and cooler days with the colours on the trees showing. If pressed I'd pick mid-Sept to mid-Oct as the ideal time to visit! 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, will try and fit in a post or two this upcoming week!

Hi all contributors to this thread (my fav on TWO except 'for Blizzards paralise Bristol') I Love to read news from across the pond,havent been to Ontario since 2006 so very envious of edodfc. my folks live in Whitby, Trent River, Bowmanville, Bancroft and one escaped across the border to Mineapolis.

if youve been before edo you will probably know all the tourist things to do but just in case, seeing as you will be there in october you really must go up to Algonquin and drive through the park on highway 60. Locally port perry is nice for a stroll, and if you do get up to Algonquin Huntsville although becoming a bit of a sprawl is still worth a visit, also Muskoka lakes and a great trading post at Dorset. all south of huntsville on the way back. There is a Wolf centre near Haliburton well worth a visit if you like that sort of thing. Some nice places around lake Simcoe as well. if you like shopping centres go to vaughan mills outdoor world/bass pro shop,

anyway Im sure the other guys can suggest some places to visit and weatherwise you could get any thing from Indian summer blue skies with 15-20 C by day and 0-5C night time to as mentioned before the first flurries of the new winter especially up in algonquin.

cheers for now keep the reports coming stewart and all they are always looked forward to

Hello all

Apologies for dropping off the thread for a while. Have had a horrible ear infection and have just been skiing in Quebec for a week. Luckily the latter appears to have cured the former so I should now be back

A few pics from the ski resort below. Conditions were good during the week, we had a couple of fantastic sunny days skiing. Towards the end of the week we had more spring snow conditions, personally I don't mind this as you can ski without freezing and then retire to the bar when it gets really mushy , but Friday was rain, which wasn't ideal. However by Saturday morning it was -9C again, that's Canada for you. We had a little snow early in the week, but no more than a few cm.

Trying to talk the rest of the family into going to an epic powder resort next year, negotiations continue...

First pic gives an impression of lying snow depth (it's actually a shot of a swimming pool and associated lifeguard hut), the others show the slopes. More snow than this time last year, not a huge amount in the village though.

Now back home and the skis are in hibernation. Hoping to open the pool soon, looks like I may have to wait a while, as Graeme has reported, initial indications are that we could have a slow start to Spring. Monday should be mild and may hit double figures but Accuweather has snow and a real feel of -19C on Tuesday night . Spring in Canada!

Hello folks, apologies again for not posting - i just can't seem to find a spare 5mins anywhere right now! Doing new training at work and it is literally eating up all my time, so here goes for 5mins of weathertime eventually!!!

Wonderful pics Paul from Quebec, snow looks deep and lovely. I've done the x-country ski-ing up in Barrie a couple years ago which was good fun, one of these things i promised i'd do again and still haven't been back. Must try next season, good luck persuading the family i'm trying to convince the wife that two weeks in the summer touring the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. is a good idea??? I'm seeing Boston, New York, D.C. down to North Carolina coast and eventually Florida in a convertible, she sees shopping in the big apple and eh oh....yep....shopping in the big apple!!!

Anyhow back to the present! And the pool cover will need to remain on for now at least Paul as winter returns to the Golden Horseshoe :

City of Hamilton
3:15 PM EDT Tuesday 22 March 2011
Snowfall warning for
City of Hamilton issued

..Snow heavy at times developing overnight..

A low pressure system over Iowa this evening will move south of the lower Great Lakes Wednesday.

Precipitation associated with this system will begin as rain over Extreme Southwestern Ontario then change to freezing rain overnight between Sarnia and Elgin county as temperatures fall below zero. Periods of freezing rain may last for several hours Wednesday.

Further east through London possibly up to western end of Lake Ontario and Huron Perth areas, snow heavy at times is likely. Bursts of heavy snow will begin overnight and will be accompanied by strong easterly winds gusting to 60 km/h Wednesday. Snowfalls of 15 cm or more are anticipated by Wednesday afternoon.

Here's a report from the Hamilton Spectator on the approaching weather, their totals have been enhanced by EC since it was posted - http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/505021--winter-s-last-blast.

15cm possible, a proper snowfall event and a late one at that. After some mild weather through the weekend just gone, this will be a shocker to some folk (especially those down at the golf club!). Temps will be cold at -3c feeling way colder due to the NE wind which will gust and perhaps bring good old lake enhancement to the Hamilton/Burlington bay area. By tomorrow night, it clears leaving a few days of cold sunshine with temps just above 0c. Snowcover could well remain into next week. I'm not convinced however at the 15cm total as the ground temps increased markedly last week and with the longer days but who knows!

Graeme, Jays look very good in spring training and there's that optimism around T.O. the type that often comes with a fall! However, like you i feel this year could be different. Some real exciting talent and a good foundation behind the scenes for a tilt at the AL East. The Yankees (whisper it, don't look anything special) and as you say we could on current prospect form hold our own against the Red Sox.

And, thanks to Rich for the kind words in your post. I'm sure i speak for Graeme, Paul and Peter that when we can and work doesn't dominate (grumble, grumble...) it's a pleasure to post what's happening out here and across N America in general. It's nice also to bring some flavour not just weather related to the forum and i hope provide an insight into life in Canada and for me, Southern Ontario.

Take Care