We did pretty well in September!  More on that in a minute.

Nope, never felt it at all - though it's a long way away :-)

Nope - but close!  We had rain in the S of Calgary, though I heard they had some sleet in the N.

It's a tomato warning - they do it up to the end of Sept I think.  After that, frosts are assumed :-)

Me too, heh

Well, so far we've had a pretty benign fall - temperatures, particularly the minima, well above normal.  This being Calgary, it could change on a dime, but for now at least, we're good. 

We at last hit a 30 degree day, at the end of August, though we only got to 14c the day after.  We also hit 30C at the end of September, courtesy of a extensive ridge of high pressure sitting over western Canada.  Since then it has cooled off to more seasonable temperatures, and last week we hit our first full frost (not quite taking out the tomatoes, but they did send a note to the management saying they were less than happy with the turn of events).  They can't really complain, after all past August we are in frost territory.

It's been pretty dry as well, which is fairly typical for September. Only 10mm for the whole month - yes I really should water the garden in preparation for the inevitable freeze up.  I'll be happy if that says away as long as possible this year!

So nothing too exciting to report....yet....

Peter

July 2011 - June 2012 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 30.4c 29/08/11
Coldest Temperature: 2.9c 21/09/11
Days with thunderstorms: 4
Days with rain falling: 20
Days with snow falling: 0
Days with snow lying: 0
Maximum snow depth: 0" (0cm)
Current snow depth 0" (0cm)

Hello, temps managed to get as low as 4c overnight on Saturday and at one point just to 5c/41f at 2pm this afternoon in Dundas as a shower passed-by. This 5c reading was way lower than anything forecast as the official TWN cast showed 10c by 1pm! You got to love the weather for creating it's own script!

Around here and in Southern Ontario in general i've seen no reports of any snow or any wintery precip with this unstable air-mass, perhaps the upper level temps were just too high. However, down in State College, PA where Accuweather resides, they saw a heavy wet snow shower earlier today which Henry Marguisty reported on via facebook. Other parts of PA off Lake Erie are said to have reported wintery showers during Sunday.

Proper Fall has arrived this weekend but after tomorrow, high pressure will begin to re-assert itself across the GTA and temps will rise nicely. Current forecasts show highs back into the 20c range or 70f but night-time values dropping between 5-7c.

As for the post season MLB Graeme, i'm with you regarding Roy Halladay, would be great for an ex-Jay to win the world series and the Phillies have my vote. Interesting to see how it all plays out.

Take Care

....meanwhile up north in Arctic Canada Kimmirut has just experinced it's first snowfall of the winter.

The snow melted in late June and the sea ice had melted by mid July...they had a few weeks of summer warmth with temps occasionally up to 20c.

The last month has seen temps back into to single digits and the first ice days have occured in recent days.

A hostile climate.

http://www.kimmirutweather.com/

Weekend greetings,

A nasty area of low pressure went through the Maritimes midweek with 50-75mm of rainfall for the likes of Halifax and Charlottetown. In its wake there was some chilly air for the time of year with some wintry showers about in Atlantic Canada and temps stuck in the mid-single digits celsius above freezing.

Meanwhile, farther west a beautiful weekend in store for southern Ontario (along with much of the eastern Lakes and NE States). Temps in the mid 20s with abundant sunshine. It's remarkably mild in parts of northern Ontario too: 21c at 8am in Thunder Bay. Minimum values are normally around 1c this time of year! Even up in Moosonnee, the high will be 27c today (average around 8c). This follows record breaking heat across Manitoba, with Winnipeg reaching 31.1c on Wednesday.

Meantime 'tis the season for those winter forecasts and the folks at Accuweather have had a couple this week. The main forecast will make for enticing reading for our Southern Ontario correspondents: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/55890/accuweathercom-winter-20112012.asp Basically it pinpoints Chicago, Milwaukee and Mineapolis and the Upper Midwest for the worst of the winter cold and snow. However Brett Anderson, in his preliminary Canadian winter forecast pushes the worst of the cold farther west (Peter will be shivering at the prospect). http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/56017/winter-forecast-for-canada-1.asp All good fun, but taken with the usual health warning for LRFs.

Finally the postseason is taking shape and unfortunately Roy Halladay won't be getting a World Series ring this year. The Phillies were defeated 1-0 in a pitchers duel last night. So it's Texas v Detroit and St Louis v Milwaukee. My money's on Texas now, though I'd like to see Detroit prevail.

Enjoy the weekend!

Hello folks, i hope everyone's having a good weekend. As Graeme reports, amazing October weather for Southern Ontario as temps currently sit at 24c/75f as i type under glorious blue skies. What a difference a week makes for the GTA as just last weekend i was reporting on potential snow flurries.

This past week has seen the temps increase and the sunshine amounts increase as well, gone is the rain also for now! Outlook keeps it this way for the early part of next week before more unsettled conditions arrive and a lowering of temps as a result. Brilliant fall weather, if i get the chance i'll dig out and post some pics that CTV posted earlier this week of an Ontarian Fall, spectacular as you'd imagine.

As for the lrf's, intriguing reading (i like the first one!!!) Major cold and snow across anywhere North of Kansas on the map i've seen all the way into Canada from Alberta to Quebec? The storm track however is further East from here pounding NY State and Western New England. Cold is brill but snow is even better!

I'm tipping Detroit also Graeme, shame for Roy and the Yankee's (aye right). St. Louis have impressed me also, correct me if i'm wrong but didn't they reach a World Series and even win one just a few years back?

Whatever your upto, enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Hi folks, after a warm even at times feeling hot spell of Fall weather earlier this week that continued from last weekend the weather is gradually on the turn and a return to unsettled conditions is here. Things have also cooled off somewhat, but there's potentially a major change and sting to come, more on which shortly.

Currently 19c/66f outside here in Dundas after a fairly wet (10mm) late afternoon and evening yesterday brought an end to the drier spell of weather. We've also seen fog, which was quite dense on Tuesday at just 2km at one stage recorded at Hamilton Munro, it wasn't overly cold at 15c in the fog but the humidity was the culprit. Now, a storm system is approaching from the NW which is likely to bring more unsettled conditions with heavy rain and gusty even high winds especially into Saturday morning across the GTA. Temps take a tumble too and are expected right now to max out at just 11c/52f on Saturday.

The winds on Fri/Sat could be noteworthy especially if you live near one of those big lakes !!! with dericho wind strengths not to be ruled out. This all sets the scene for a potential major weather event next week.

Accuweather sum it up fairly well as things stand - http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/56311/wild-storm-to-hit-east-next-we.asp. In summery, everything including the kitchen sink could be involved next week as a LP develops off tropical moisture and heads north up towards the NorthEast U.S. & the Great Lakes. Strong Thunderstorms are expected in the Ohio Valley while heavy rain and high winds batter the Atlantic Seaboard and bring re-newed flooding concerns to parts of the Mid-Atlantic and PA, NY, NJ area. However, for Southern Ontario the storm at this time (6-7 days out) has the potential to be the first real Fall/Winter storm of the season with heavy rain turning to heavy wet snow, the excitement builds of course! At this range, almost impossible to say what effects this weather may have, the ground is quite warm still so any snow and especially wet snow will have quite a job lying, however it should at the very least bring most areas of the GTA a taste of what is to come (hopefully) for winter. More on this as the days progress.

Finally, i thought i'd post some pics that myself and some friends of ours took over the past few days of the leaf Fall in full swing as Southern Ontario becomes even more amazing, hope you enjoy them....

Dundas Mountain looking across Cootes Paradise towards Hamilton

Canadian National (CN) freight train winds its way up from Hamilton thru Dundas with HWY 6 going up the escarpment, the very road to our home

Dundas Mountain in full bloom

From the Flambrough side of Dundas looking towards Hamilton. Dundas town is just to the right of the picture

A wider view from Dundas Mountain. Hamilton is in the near distance with the Niagara Escarpment winding it's way towards St.Catharine's & Grimsby in the very far distance

Take Care

Ontario Snowman stunning pictures totally stunning

Hi all, very quick update on the upcoming week's weather. It doesn't look as likely as it once did for a storm to reach Southern Ontario by Thursday and bring back-edge snows across the GTA. The likely storm will stay further S and E and remain a predominant Eastern Seaboard event. Any snow may be seen in the Appaliation Mountains. Temps are expected going by EC to remain in the 11-13c range with some rain for Southern Ontario.

We did see our coldest temp of the season so far over the weekend with a high of just 8c/46f. Today, it's 13c/55f under a mix of sunshine and cloud. With 2wks of October left, we await our first flakes of snow of this Fall season.

Take Care

Hi all, fairly entertaining storm came by last evening and overnight bringing nearly 60mm of rain, over 2 inches in old money and gusts of wind over 70kph, the highest being 75kph all from a NE direction. Temps remained at 10c/50f throughout so no snow this time, had this same set-up been in November there would have been a higher chance. EC produced High Wind & Rainfall warnings for most of the GTA including Toronto/Hamilton and on the basis of last night this was well justified.

I haven't been able to catch rainfall totals for elsewhere yet and surprisingly there isn't many problems with the roads or flooding this morning. The trees have taken a beating though and i'd expect some limb damage and fallen branches to be widespread.

Away from the weather, St. Louis beat the Texas Rangers 3-2 last night in Game 1 of the World Series in MO. The Cardinals looked good value for the win, one day Graeme is what i thought last night, one day....it'll be the Blue Jays!!!

Take Care

Here's some EC storm totals from the system that covering Southern Ontario Wed night into Thursday :

Location                        rainfall amount (mm)

Hamilton botanical gardens      78.1
Hamilton airport                      69.2
Windsor                                 59.0
Harrow                                   56.0
Wiarton                                  64.6
Waterloo university                 51.8
Appleton (W of Ottawa)           50.0
Toronto Pearson                     49.0
Guelph                                  48.0
Sarnia                                   52.4
Waterloo-Wellington               46.9
Elora                                     47.5
Barrie                                   44.0
Shanty Bay (E of Barrie)          43.0
Thornbury (nw of Collingwood)   41.2
Balaclava (E of Owen Sound)     40.5
Hanover                                 39.6
Tapley (sw of Peterborough)     35.9
Drummond (se of Peterborough)   35.4
Goderich                                40.9
Toronto Island                       35.1
Mount Forest                          34.7
Orillia                                   33.0
Ridgetown                             33.0
Markham                              31.4
Coldwater                              31.0
Kaladar                                30.6
Ottawa airport                       31.6
Toronto downtown                  29.9
Toronto Downsview                 29.6


Location                        maximum wind speed (km/h)

Toronto Island                  63 gusting to 78 (9:30PM)
Hamilton                        61 gusting to 78 (8:30PM)
London                          56 gusting to 72 (9:30PM)
Burlington                      54 gusting to 70 (1:00AM)

As you can see quite a soaker for parts of lower Hamilton in particular, we also had another 10mm or so from showers last evening and overnight, everything pretty sodden now.

Tentative indications of colder weather on the horizon come the middle of next week, and maybe some lake effect snow around as well. More details hopefully in the next few days.

The Texas Rangers levelled the World Series last night with a 2-1 win over the Cards in St.Louis in Game 2. Here's the game report from the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/2011-world-series-game-2-texas-rangers-rally-in-the-ninth-to-even-series-with-st-louis-cardinals/2011/10/20/gIQAGld41L_story.html?hpid=z5.

Whatever your upto this weekend make it a good one!

Weekend greetings.

Although it's a gross generalisation the weather across NA is about as quiet as it ever gets right now. We're in a lull after  the heat, storms and tropical action of late summer while winter is yet to take hold of the continent. Some great Fall leaf-watching weather.

Never one to be content with 'boring' weather Henry M over on Accuweather is talking up next week with the potential for a snowstorm in Denver/Front Range, tropical action in the Carribean and later in the week the prospect of some messy weather for the Midwest/Great Lakes/NE where tropical moisture meets chilly airmass...the cooler weather Stewart alluded to. I'm thinking it's still too early for widespread snow in the region and would be looking at northern areas, higher elevations and possibly some prone Lake Effect areas.

The threat of a strong thunderstorm is in the forecast for Game 3 of the World Series which is in Arlington Texas tonight. The series is shaping up nicely, Stewart, with two hard fought, low-scoring games featuring some great baseball fundamentals. I think there will be more runs scored in Texas. I'm taking the Rangers to win in 7. As for the Jays, well I'd settle for them making the play-offs within the next three years!

Usually September.. but I think it was quite hot in Calgary this September, reaching 30C? Not sure though.

Hello folks, busy week for me but now it's Friday and i have the weekend off (incredible!) there's a chance to post as things have turned cooler, maybe cold for parts of Southern Ontario and tentitive signs that winter is close-by.

First up, last night saw out first proper cold night and the first frost of the season as temps dipped to -5c at 6am this morning. They have only slowly risen during the day to a high of 9c/48f but glorious sunny skies as compensation. Environment Canada are warning of an even colder night to come on Saturday as shown here -

Special weather statement for:
=new= Windsor - Essex - Chatham-Kent
=new= Sarnia - Lambton
=new= Elgin
=new= Simcoe - Delhi - Norfolk
=new= Dunnville - Caledonia - Haldimand
=new= Niagara
=new= City of Hamilton.

      Frost likely Saturday night into early Sunday.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
==discussion==
A cold Arctic air mass combined with clear skies and light winds will
allow temperatures to fall to near or below the freezing mark
Saturday night.  As a result, widespread frost is likely.

Note that although temperatures will drop below freezing elsewhere,
Environment Canada's frost warning program has ended for the season
for the remainder of the province.  Thus no other regions will be
included in statements or warnings.

It's not just frost that we have to look out for as forecasts show that we might just see some of the white stuff during the next 24hrs mixing in with rain showers. Again, like the frost it's the first time this season that any snow has been rumoured about, it's all possible thanks to a system that will bring Heavy Wet Snow to interior sections of the NorthEast U.S. from the Appilations thru PA to New England. This same storm is expected to cause big problems for Atlantic Canada with snow, wind and rain for many areas as Brett Anderson's map show's below.

First, EC King City Radar showing some of the showers building at this time -
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=ONT.

This is a new tool i've found from Nav Canada giving the aviation weather for CYHM (Hamilton). Main point is no wintery precip forecast according to them at the latest forecasts :

TAF CYHM 281738Z 2818/2918 25007KT P6SM SCT030 TEMPO 2820/2902 P6SM -SHRA BKN030 FM290400 VRB03KT P6SM SCT040 BKN090 TEMPO 2904/2913 5SM BR PROB30 2909/2913 1SM BR FM291700 13008KT P6SM SCT040 OVC120 RMK NXT FCST BY 290000Z=

I think and experience has shown that the aviation forecasts are particulary accurate and this could be a good source come the big winter storms later in the year (here's hoping!)

Now for Brett Anderson's snow and rain map for Atlantic Canada where it's shaping up to be a rough weekend with potential disruption -

Game 7 of the MLB World Series is tonight with the series now tied at 3-3, it's thrilling stuff as i'm sure Graeme would agree, best series for a few years i think!

Whatever your upto make it a great weekend.

Absolutely Stewart it's been a classic, especially Game 6 on Thursday night. Congrats to the Cards who clinched the World Series in last night's Game 7. Some of the best fans in baseball over there in St Louis.

Back to the weather and as Stewart says a major wind, rain and snow storm will whistle through the NE States and into the Maritimes today into tomorrow. Biggest concern will probably be power outages caused by the very heavy wet nature of the snow, and the risk of local flooding.

As it's early in the season, and temps will be marginal, it will be evaporative cooling that plays a large part in producing snow at lower levels. Looks like a rain turning to snow event for the major cities along the I-95, where snow accumulations should be kept in the 2"-6" range (still very notable for October!) but futher inland cities like Scranton, PA and Hartford, CT could get clobbered with over a foot of snow. Fredericton, NB might be ground zero in the Maritimes. A few webcams to keep an eye on:

http://www.fredericton.ca/en/StJohnRiverWebcam.asp

http://www.scrantonlive.com/

http://weather.weatherbug.com/CT/Hartford-weather/weather-cams/local-cams.html?camera_id=HOTFR

http://weather.weatherbug.com/NY/Newburgh-weather/weather-cams/local-cams.html?camera_id=NWBBD

Nice summary over at weather.com: http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/weekend-storm-wet-snow_2011-10-26

Should be an interesting weekend!

Hi Michael - I've been to Moncton and Saint John, NB but never Fredericton. From what I hear it's a nice town though. While I guess winters are relatively mild compared to NWT, I hope your brother likes shovelling snow - annual average snowfall is 276 cm!

This storm really is shaping up to be something special...

The snow is now starting to come down quite heavily on the Scranton, PA webcam I posted earlier: http://www.scrantonlive.com/

There's already reports of 10" of snowfall from WV, with 7-8" from locations in MD and PA.

You can get live coverage of the event at Weather.com: http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/snowtober-to-remember_2011-10-28