Hello all

Quick post as I am working from home. We have about 3 inches of new lying snow, it is still falling steadily and has been doing so since about 4am this morning.  Based on Brett Anderson's latest, I would say that's about as expected: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/47361/storm-update-video-1.asp - we may get a little more, and Stewart might do better than us out of this one - the Hamilton/Kitchener corridor looks like getting most of the snow.

TBH I'm actually ready for Spring now. UK cold fans probably won't understand this but I'll be quite happy for this snow to stick around for a short while and then for things to warm up so I can start moaning about humidity instead .It looks like remaining cold this week though - highs around or just about freezing and between -5C and -10C at night. Northern blocking looks like delaying the warmth for a while yet.

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Well, it looks like the storm was somewhat undersold here. We had at least 15cm yesterday, with some blowing and drifting. Snow fell until around 6:30pm when it eased off. Possibly some lake effect kicked in, anyway I think it could be the largest single day's fall this season.  A nightmare to shovel as it was coming down as wet flakes and then refreezing. Took me over an hour to clear the drive.

Conditions on the roads were pretty bad yesterday, possibily the worst since I've been in Canada. The ploughs didn't seem to be getting around as fast as possible and many people have taken off their winter tyres (not us luckily) so there was plenty of "drifting" going on. I believe the QEW was closed at one point.

It's now around freezing under cloudless skies. At this time of year the sun is starting to get stronger so it's already put a significant dent in the snowpack. Looks like remaining cold and mainly sunny for the rest of the week, no obvious sign of more snow (or spring) though.

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The irony is not lost on me Paul, given the storms earlier in the season that failed to produce. Brett's post gives the storm totals from EC: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/47439/satellite-shows-where-storm-left-its-snow-1.asp 

26cm at Waterloo looks like the biggest fall. Staying very cold for late March - highs in T.O. today just -3c, but as Paul mentioned the strength of the sun at this time of year will melt the snow pretty quickly.

Off for a weekend on the west coast (of Scotland) - weather is set fair. Will be back online next week. Have a great weekend everyone.

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Hi folks, certainly was quite a storm for these parts especially for the time of year. Dundas saw 21cm and as Brett posted, Hamilton (Munro) had 20cm, even Pearson got 11cm, which is more than some storms earlier in the winter!

And the storm as you reported Paul caused chaos around the local area. All Hamilton Public schools were closed on Wednesday, which is i believe the latest ever closure for a 'snowday' city history and last night the City of Hamilton issued a Cold Weather Alert as temps plunged to -13c with a w/c of -19. This is confirmed as the latest the city has ever issued such an alert in the season, now Mar 25.

The pic in Brett's post of the snowcover across the GTA and parts of Southern Ontario is very impressive. He also believes that April looks well below average 'unseasonably so' for parts of Eastern Canada and Northeast U.S. and that we might go straight from Winter into Summer this year. I'm not overly familiar with Montreal's weather (Graeme, maybe you can help?) but their climate up there i'm led to believe means that they only usually get two seasons (Winter & Summer) - so maybe Toronto will follow suit if this forecast comes through?!!

Still cold here in the short term, but good sunny spells even if it is -3c outside. Snowcover now reduced to 16cm, so a fair whack remains.....but like you Paul, i'd rather it dissapeared now and we got back to normal spring conditions, Baseball and Snow don't mix!!!

Seems to be a wee problem on here posting Smilies and seperating text properly today so i'll leave it at that for now. Have a Great Weekend everyone and enjoy the West Graeme!

Hi all, quick post as i'm still extremely busy for one reason or another! Quiet week of weather in Southern Ontario so far after last weeks snow. Temps 4c and going to stay around average for the foreseeable future. We've had some good sunshine by day and cold by night but all change in the next 24hrs as we introduce more unsettled conditions. Flurries forecast for tomorrow then rain or showers on Friday and thru the weekend. April set to start damp and dreich and the lrf shows more of the same potentially for most of next month! Lovely.

Baseball season starts in 2 days Graeme and Jays form in late Spring training continues to be very encouraging. Here's hoping for a fast start to 2011!

Take Care

I understand!

Hum, well, I guess the Calgarian stop-start Spring is well underway.  With, it must be said, more stopping than starting.  We've just had a really nice week after a couple of weeks of snow and grey, leaden skies.  The snowpack melted off (the sun is working it's way up to us, and we are high!).  However, there's a wrench in the gears:

3:40 PM MDT Friday 01 April 2011
Winter storm warning for
City of Calgary continued

Intense winter storm developing tonight.

This is a warning that dangerous winter weather conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions...Listen for updated statements.

A system moving through the Pacific northwest will move across the Rockies tonight. As a result snow and windy conditions will develop over southern regions of the province tonight.

As ground temperatures are fairly warm the snow is initially expected to melt on contact. However by Saturday evening the warned regions will see anywhere from 10 to 25 centimetres. With sustained winds of 30 to 40 km/h expected in exposed areas blowing snow will also result. The storm will persist into Sunday.


Meh.   At least next week we will see the sun and warmth return.  Really hoping to see some green grass soon - it is April now. Well, if I don't get it here, I'll get it at home, we're popping back to the UK for a couple of weeks in April. 

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: 59
Days with snow lying: 139
Maximum snow depth: 10" (25cm)
Current snow depth 2" (6cm) patchy

A bit of a whiteout in Calgary now -2C with heavy snow!

http://www.patentfile.com/index.php/Home/Webcam 

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Hi Folks, we're in for a topsy turvy 24hrs of weather across Southern Ontario as Spring and Winter do battle once more, with Spring winning and some fireworks potentially along the way!  Here's the Environment Canada statement on the upcoming weather :

Special weather statement
Issued by Environment Canada at 3:20 PM EDT Sunday 3 April 2011.

Special weather statement issued for..
City of Toronto
Windsor - Essex - Chatham-Kent
Sarnia - Lambton
Elgin
London - Middlesex
Simcoe - Delhi - Norfolk
Dunnville - Caledonia - Haldimand
Oxford - Brant
Niagara
City of Hamilton
Halton - Peel
York - Durham
Huron - Perth
Waterloo - Wellington
Dufferin - Innisfil
Grey - Bruce
Barrie - Orillia - Midland
Belleville - Quinte - Northumberland
Kingston - Prince Edward
Peterborough - Kawartha Lakes
Stirling - Tweed - South Frontenac
Bancroft - Bon Echo Park
Brockville - Leeds and Grenville
City of Ottawa
Gatineau
Prescott and Russell
Cornwall - Morrisburg
Smiths Falls - Lanark - Sharbot Lake
Parry Sound - Muskoka
Haliburton
Renfrew - Pembroke - Barry's Bay
Algonquin
Burk's Falls - Bayfield Inlet.

..Spring battles with winter..

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==discussion==
A strong low pressure system over Iowa is approaching the Great Lakes
and will bring quite the variety of weather with it.

Rain in advance of this weather system will continue to move through
Southwestern Ontario this afternoon then advance rapidly northeast
into remaining districts tonight.  However over areas near and north
of a line from Sarnia through London to Hamilton, rain will become
mixed with or change over to wet snow for a couple of hours as winter
fights to reestablish a grip on the area.  Enough snow to whiten the
ground is possible as far south as the Stratford to Kitchener to
Peterborough and Brockville areas tonight where a couple cm are
possible.  Further north and east amounts of near 5 cm expected
overnight into Monday morning.

The wet snow will eventually change over to rain in all regions as a
strong warm front pushes through by Monday, as spring wins this
latest battle with winter.  The mercury will rise into the double
digits over all areas except the Ottawa Valley where cooler air will
be more difficult to flush out.

Most regions will receive 15 to 25 millimetres of rain, with locally
higher amounts to 40 millimetres possible.  Isolated thunderstorms
may spark some excitement over Southern Ontario tonight especially
near Lake Erie before mild air arrives with the warm front.

As the low tracks over the upper Great Lakes into Quebec Monday a
cold front will bring the brief mild spell to an end and also push
the rain away to the east.

Motorists should be prepared for the possibility of winter driving
conditions tonight into Monday morning in areas that receive wet
snow.  Visibility may be reduced significantly in the snow and some
accumulation on untreated roads will be possible.

It's currently 7c under leden skies but as tonight approaches we'll see Heavy rain changing to Wet Snow across much of the GTA for awhile providing very tricky driving conditions. Then, as EC say a change to much milder weather and more Heavy Rain for tomorrow morning. The fireworks come with these extreme changes on climate of a few hours and with it the real potential for some Severe Weather especially Thunderstorms during the transitions from Winter to Spring and then later back to Winter on Monday afternoon.

Flooding could be a problem more so because of the recent snowmelt and then combined 40mm of rain from this system. The same system that is bringing a distict squal line to parts of the Upper Mid-West and into the Chicagoland area with Large Hail, Thunderstorms and even the odd outside chance of a Tornado. This system will also bring Snow to higher elevations of the NorthEast U.S.

Speaking of Tornado's, today marks 37years i believe when on the 3rd of April, 1974 a major historic tornado outbreak occurred across the Mid-West of the U.S. killing dozens but also providing meterologists with vital data to improve Tornado Siren warning times, a process that is still ongoing in 2011.

And finally, hopefully Graeme you've been able to catch the start of the MLB for 2011. The Jays have started on fire with Jose Bautista on-form again and a real spectacular opening to the season with a full house at the Skydome on Honda Opening night. I know it's early, but the T.O. press are positivally 'raving' about the performances and results so far....let's hope they can channel the expectation and continue the fine start. Marketing at the Jays games certainly has improved, they're giving away free Jose Bautista hats and some bats to the first 10,000 punters through the turnstiles. I need to grab one!!!

I've got 3 long awaited and valuable days off this week, so will try and update on the wet and potential stormy weather tomorrow. Take Care

[quote=tallyho_83;148902]A bit of a whiteout in Calgary now -2C with heavy snow!

http://www.patentfile.com/index.php/Home/Webcam[/quote]

Yeah - 8" of the white stuff fell yesterday - heavy, wet, English snow.  The view this morning:

Hello all

Great pic Peter, although I think we'd all rather see some green now 

Quick report, apologies for being offline for a while. The spring weather continues - Saturday was lovely and sunny and up to 12 C, Sunday started sunny and mild, clouded over, and by 8pm we had about half an inch of wet snow. This quickly turned to rain and at about 3am last night there was a big thunderstorm just to the northwest of us. Didn't quite get right over the town but was still noisy enough to wake me up. Now it's pouring with rain. Pretty much as EC called it and Stewart reported it. Warmth still looks delayed - it may warm up into next week a bit but Accuweather still has sub zero minima going right into mid April.

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Hello folks, cracking picture Peter!!! I agree with Paul though we've had enough of old man winter now over here, but nice to look at all the same. Enjoy your trip back to the UK later this month Peter, hopefully the weather will co-operate and give you some beautiful conditions to enjoy.

Here in Southern Ont, we got the crash, bang, wallop treatment at 4am this morning which predictable did cause a small stir amongst the local community as reported by the Spec.com - http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/511586--windy-wet-and-wacky-weather. Maybe not as much chaos as was possibly predicted by EC with as Paul reported just some slushy deposits before 9pm last night which quickly in Western Scotland style turned to Heavy Rain! And the rain was heavy but not as prolonged for an intense period as could have been the case so flooding was localised.

As the article says, we did reach the dizzy heights of 17c/63f this afternoon and remain in the 'warm sector' on the trailing edge fo the original storm this evening before as expected temps will plunge to near 0c later in the night. Forecast has them rebounding again to 10c come Wednesday with a quieter spell of weather before more rain sets in on Thursday and Friday of this week. Definately Spring transition weather.

Take Care

Afternoon all,

Apologies for being offline for a while - a busy round of travelling over the last ten days. Things have settled down now though and it's great to catch up with your reports!

I watched the Jays/Twins game on Saturday Stewart - great game and there is indeed a real buzz about the ballclub this year. I hope that continues to manifest itself in improved attendances, but even if that takes longer, it's an exciting young team.

Pretty much as is the case over here it looks like milder weather for southern Ontario from the weekend onwards with temps up into the mid teens celsius. The general consensus seems to be that everyone would be glad to see the back of winter so this is most welcome.

Enjoyed your pic Peter but even for you the next few days should be pleasant and spring-like after the recent snowfall.

Meantime I think it's fair to say Brett Anderson isn't a fan of Spring!

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Hi folks, i had to laugh at Brett's outburst for lack of a better term regarding Spring! Gotta say that he has point on many of his gripes although personally it isn't all that bad. The temperature swings are extreme and an example of this is coming up for Southern Ontario over the next 48hrs.

Currently quite foggy here in Hamilton, so much so there's a weather advisory out for it this morning but it is starting to clear. Not done much for the temp though stuck at 3c/37f. Now on that contrast, ahead on the horizon we have 22c being progged by EC for Saturday with the caviat of showers mixed in which could become Thundery. Explosive or not and following the general theme on the thread of late of goodbye winter, hello spring.....i can't wait (personally!) 22c sounds amazing after 6 months of snow, rain and ice. Time will tell whether we get 22c or not, but something approaching 70f is more than likely during Saturday.

Spring of course does bring unsettled conditions at times and this showery theme continues through Sunday with slightly cooler weather forecast as things stand.

Talking of unsettled conditions, some very strong Thunderstorms and several reports of Tornadoes in the deep south at the start of this week. Ahead of the storm system, places like Charlotte, NC had 30c. The storm moved in Monday night and brought thousands of reports concerned with Lightning strikes and knocked down trees and power lines across GA, FL, NC, SC and into VA. 9 people as of the last report i seen were confirmed as being killed during this outbreak.

Lunchtime for me if i can find my way to Upper James St. through the fog! Take Care

All that snow melted off  .... but it's coming back tomorrow night .  Still - not to worry, I'm flying out of Calgary tomorrow afternoon!    Be back next month....

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: 61
Days with snow lying: 143
Maximum snow depth: 10" (25cm)
Current snow depth 0" (0cm)

Hi folks, quick post this evening approaching 8pm here in Dundas and i'm off out for dinner at our local in 10mins! Some big Spring swings over the past few days in Southern Ontario. In my last post, i said it was Saturday progged for some serious warmth, well it was slightly delayed into Sunday but when it came wow.... 24c/75f on Sunday afternoon with our first humidex reading of 2011 coming in at 28c - very impressive for the early part of April. We did see a Thunderstorm on Sunday morning but bizzarly that was before the main heat arrived and it petered out after 30mins or so.

Further showers brought the temp down again overnight into Monday but despite this Hamilton still recorded 19c/66f. However, it's reality check time today as we only touched 9c/48f under grey skies. The outlook for the rest of the week is the same with the good chance of rain or showers on each day approaching the weekend.

So, a fleating glimpse at what could be around the corner but it's back to normal for now.

Hopefully Peter you can get out of YYC before any more snow arrives. Enjoy and have fun back in the U.K.

Take Care

Seems like there has been more snow in Calgary over the past two weeks than the entire winter looking at webcam there is another spring snowstorm

http://www.patentfile.com/index.php/Home/Webcam

This 'British' snow caused travel disruption!!...Looks like you had a lucky escape Peter, unless you miss the snow:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/04/13/calgary-snow-warning-roads.html

Surely most are fed-up with the cold and snow in Canada now and are looking forward to spring and warmth? I mean the Calgarians were fed-up with the bitter cold during February/March whilst I was there, so they must be bored of it now and it is April and yet there is more snow!!

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Doesn't snow fall in May in Calgary though? I'd except them to be used to it.

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Hello all, It's still snowing with EC warnings out for areas East of Calgary this afternoon. Incidentally, you can get snow in high summer in Alberta even on a rare occasion in the centre of Calgary itself!

Here in Dundas, it's a few days off for me after what was a very hectic March. The weather isn't much to ride home about though we've got a Spring swing and seasaw going on. Check-out these current and projected temps for the next few days :

Today                -        12c/54f

Friday                 -        5c/41f

Saturday             -        10c/50f

Sunday               -         3c/37f (Potential Snow Flurries!)

Monday               -         14c/57f

Tuesday              -         9c/48f

There's bigger dips in temps there than on the big dipper itself in good old Blackpool!!! But yes, Rain on Saturday will give way to potential snow flurries on Sunday especially at this stage i'd think reserved for higher ground, which could mean anywhere including here....on-the-mountain!

Blue Jays wise and i hope Graeme has managed to catch some more MLB action. AL East has a very unusual look to it with the Red Sox, who Jays play on Saturday at the bottom with a 2-9 record. Unfortunately it's been a bad few days for the Jays having started to brightly they lost 4 on the bounce and despite overturning that poor run of form with a win last night 8-3 over the Mariners, they lie 3rd in the table with a 6-6 record having played more games than both the Yankees and Ravens. Still, early days in this long marathon.

Whatever your upto this coming weekend, make it a good one!

Winter continues in Calgary - currently -5c with light snow, Monday -3c with 'snow flurries' and Tuesday -2C with a 'chance of snow flurries'

Look at live webcam now:

http://www.calgaryinfocenter.com/merchant2.php/list2/25/Calgary+Webcam+-+Shaw+TV 

Peter look what you are missing? Aren't Calgarian's getting a little frustrated and fedup? They were when i was there in Feb/March but now approaching middle of Spring this comming week and it is still subzero by day!? Back in 2005 when I was in Calgary the mercury reached 21C in March and 25'C in April but one day of snow at -2c which melted the next day and then in May there was a snowstorm on 12th May that gave a wet covering. But it looks like you have almost a week of constant snow flurries or snow showers.

Has the temperature not rise above 10C yet in Calgary?

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Hello all - been offline for a while, very busy.

"Spring" continues. Yesterday we had cold rain all day. This morning we have sleet and heavy wet flakes of snow. I'm starting to agree with Brett Anderson's view of the season . This is definitely the longest we've had to wait for any sort of warmth since I arrived in Canada. This coming week doesn't look that great either - highs around 7 or 8, and some rain.

I've a feeling we're going to skip Spring altogether this year and just rush straight into Summer. We are planning to open the pool in a months time which seems ridiculous now, but things can change so fast here it could be fine.

First look on Accuweather at the summer forecast looks fairly neutral for around here, we'll see:

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/48498/computer-model-updated-forecast-for-the-upcoming-summer.asp

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Hello folks, Spring swings continue! As Paul reported we saw snowfall yesterday which failed to make an impression but it was very windy and then today we've had a couple hours of fairly heavy snowfall from a lake-effect band that has now passed and is headed for NY State. No apprieciable lying snow, but fairly late fall considering it's Apr 18. More like Calgary weather than Toronto or Hamilton weather?

Temperature wise it's 0c/32f in a w/c of -5c. Tomorrow, rain moves in and turns heavy possibly with Thunderstorms during Tuesday evening and overnight before a major warm swing occurs on Wednesday. Could touch 20c/68f, probably nearer 17c or 18c. As Paul says, it's fairly poor fair though for Spring and i had hoped for better as we approach May on the horizon.

However, if you go by Brett's lrf and the summer forecast, average sums it up. They'll be warm even hot days but mixed with more unsettled almost W Scotland like conditions in-between. As with every lrf, time will always tell!

Finally, i know this has been reported elsewhere on TWO but the storms and Tornado outbreak across many Southern States between Thursday and Sunday of last week was a very notable and sadly deadly event. Starting in the Tornado strongholds of OK and KS before moving east to AL and finally NC. For North Carolina, 62 Tornado touchdowns during Sat night/Sun morning alone, this a record for the state and the deadliest Severe weather outbreak since the 1980's. Over 20 killed in NC alone at last check and upto 50 people dead across the 4 day event. Experts also say that due to La Nina, this season's Tornado risk is higher across the board and we haven't even reached May yet, which traditionally is the month where most Tornadoes occur and are reported.

Take Care

A wee quick post this afternoon. Still unsettled in the GTA, yesterday we saw over 20mm of rain followed by a period of light overnight snowfall, again not lying but it is certainly a weird spell of late April weather. Today, it's 7c under cloudy skies dipping to 0c tonight before more rain and this time the chance for Thunderstorms enbedded with it comes into Ontario during Saturday morning.

Like last week, this will increase the temps (the total opposite from what usually happens in Thundery conditions!) We could touch 18 or 19c on Saturday. More showery rain and lower temps for Sunday, so unlike back home in Scotland and the rest of the UK where i hear it's spectacular for the time of year. This Ontarian Easter will feel more soggy and colder than across the pond.

On the plus side, looking forward to 4 days off!!! Have a happy Easter everyone.

My cousin in Toronto is really fed-up with it and really can't wait for Spring to come, I also noticed it been very poor month there and no let up to allow proper Spring to start.  

Been a while since I posted...been incredibly busy and have just spent a sunny and warm few days in London. Now back in cold, dreich, haar-ridden Fife. Up to 10c warmer on the west coast of Scotland than it is on the east this morning!

Talking of cool, just catching up with the posts and it's certainly been a slow start to Spring for many, not least in eastern Canada. I saw it was snowing in Quebec City yesterday and there are widespread near or sub zero temperatures for many this morning.

The Good Friday high in St John's is expected to be +1c with flurries off and on. Not very springlike.

I should have more time to post properly over the weekend, although no long holiday weekend for me! Will definitely be watching the Jays/Rays game tomorrow Stewart, with Brandon Morrow set to return. I'm guessing the roof will be closed!

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