Hi all, No snowflakes in the Hamilton area yet this season, just rain showers today i'm afraid, one going on weakly now as i type. Frost warning has now been issued by EC for tonight, temps expected to drop to -3c, ICE could be a major issue come morning.

As for the places that did get some snow, the governors of NY & NJ have issued State's of Emergency, as of an hour ago i heard that over 1 million customers were without power across MD, WV, NY, PA, NJ, VT and other New England states. Snow totals of over 10" reported in interior PA and NY, Henry Marguisty says on Accuweather that 9" has fallen on-the-mountain up from State College with 4" in Downtown. NYC has broken it's all time record for October snowfall, Central park at last report i saw was over 2" of wet snow, with some big tree damage in the park area itself. A true Halloween horror show for some who don't like the winter!

It's early, not overly so for a storm to produce snow in these areas. This one reminds me of the 'freak' Buffalo, NY Blizzard that raged 3-4 yrs ago around this same time which in a very small locale caused major disruption with over a foot of snow falling in a line across the Lake Erie shoreline.

As for here, temps climb back into the 50sF for the start of the week before potentially falling again as the week goes on, clouding over also with some more rain or showers forecast by then.

Baseball wise, Cards winning Game 7 excellent and well deserved. Stat of the day i thought was that they are only the 5th team ever to win the World Series as a wildcard in the playoffs and the first since the Red Sox done it in 2004. Now for a winter of hockey and the trial and tribulations of the Maple Leafs!

Take Care

Morning all,

Well the Nor'easter certainly didn't disappoint in terms of being a headline maker. There's 2 million homes and businesses without power as the heavy wet snow downs trees and power lines. Deepest snowfall report I've seen so far is 15.5" in West Milford, NJ, but we'll get a better picture in a few hours time as the east coast wakes up.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/29/us/east-coast-storm/index.html?hpt=us_c1

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/northeast-winter-in-fall_2011-10-29

Stewart: unlike baseball, I only follow hockey casually, but I'd love for next year to be the one in which a Canadian team finally wins the Stanley Cup again - thought it was going to be this year with the Canucks but it didn't quite happen.

Great looking weather in NE USA

Halloween celebrations could be a bit difficult in some areas tonight, though

I'm wondering if they will pay for all that snow come winter proper?

Good morning from Sacramento  Been in CA for nearly a week and still haven't seen a cloud! Temps generally in the mid 20s, sometimes feelng cool at night, tho on the coast further south we had some real warm summer evenings. Humidity around 20% - a very different air to the UK.

Morning all,

Nice snowy night in Denver: http://www.denverpost.com/webcams 

p.s. Sacramento sounds lovely, Twister!

Not sure but there certainly hasn't been much of note: however the forecast suggests some measurable snowfall tonight and tomorrow with subzero temps - perhaps Peter will check in.

http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-52_metric_e.html

http://wx.ca/?service=page/SkyCams





Hello all, the weather quietening down across N America after a very active spell last week. Not sure about snow amounts in Calgary this morning, EC have warnings of 5-10cm out for districts near Calgary but no watches or warnings for the city itself.

Over here in the east, it's dry and sunny but chilly at just 8c right now as we approach 1pm. Wind is gusty out also which adds to the chill, wonderful November day though and October ended without a single snowflake being seen in the GTA. Not unusual, just a matter of time (hopefully).

Outlook for the weekend is for dry, sunny days with cold nights and a touch of frost temps between 6-9c by day and -2 to +1c by night. Next week starts on the same theme but turns more unsettled with rain forecast by Wednesday.

I've just booked my tickets to go back to Scotland for the festive period, a wee while away yet but i'm looking forward to going home for two weeks. Hopefully, i'll catch some snow this year as by the time i'd turned up last year the worst of the Artic conditions were starting to pass, certainly for SW Scotland!

Whatever your upto, make it a great weekend.

Hello folks, the rain that was forecast for Wednesday is about to duely arrive into Southern Ontario by this afternoon making for a wet commute home. Temps have been mild, even very mild ahead of this system though. A high of 18c/64f at Hamilton Munro yesterday almost breaking the warmest Nov 8 temp record in the process, no doubt somewhere in the GTA actually broke their daily temp record.

Today's high is 15c/59f, the day having started with some fog patches around causing one or two probs on the roads. Behind the system is proper cold air as has already been seen in Iowa, where some parts had over 6 inches of snow yesterday from this and areas in Northern Michegan and North-NorthWestern Ontario have watches and warnings out this morning from EC for heavy snow and dangerous driving conditions later.

Behind the system for us will be much colder temps, down to just 5c/41f by Friday and some showers, although mainly dry i'm expecting for the Hamilton area. Not quite cold enough it looks for snow, still a waiting game!

I've got a day off in the middle of the week for once, shame i must work the weekend!

Take Care

Was it really a month since I lat posted?  Sigh....

Anyway - to answer the question, yes we have had some snow, but not a lot.  October was pretty benign, dry and with temps generally above average.  The first snow fell on the 31st, but it was a damp, wet affair and didn't stick.  The first real snow was on the 4th, also our first ice day and with temps dropping below -10, it stuck.  However, there was not much - sourced from a cold front and not much input from the pacific, so amounted to no more than 3cm.  Now, under a chinook, it has all gone.  However....it is November and Calgary is always topsy-turvey in winter, another cold front barrels through the city later on Friday and the temps drop and the flurries start again.  Don't have a sense of how much snow, but probably no more that 5cm or so.  After that it stays pretty cold with more ice days to come.  Winter is here, even if the city doesn't really know too much about it yet....

Peter 

July 2011 - June 2012 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 30.4c 29/08/11
Coldest Temperature: -13.4c 05/11/11
Days with thunderstorms: 4
Days with rain falling: 20
Days with snow falling: 2
Days with snow lying: 2
Maximum snow depth: <1" (<3cm)
Current snow depth 0" (0cm)

Weekend greetings,

Yes the Kimmirut webcam and station is certainly one of the most interesting out there - an insight into a completely different world of weather than ours.

Good to see you back posting again Peter, and perhaps just in time too as the developing pattern will see some very cold air being bottled up over Alaska and northern and western Canada (see the forecast for Whitehorse http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/yt-16_metric_e.html). This could bring the season's first really frigid temps to Calgary as early as next weekend. Definitely one to watch. In the meantime there should be some snow tonight for Calgary and some nasty blowing snow conditions for southern Alberta.

Over on the other side of Canada heavy rain was the story in the Maritimes with Halifax Intnl receiving 106mm yesterday. Although cooler air has moved through eastern Canada it's not particularly chilly and won't last long. For the time being, and perhaps for most of the rest of this month it looks like a cold west/mild east split (put in the most general of terms). Slivers of cold air will work there way eastwards from time to time but nothing drastic in the short term. The likes of Henry M at Accuweather expects this to change come December. There's a nice piece on this over on Accuweather by Joe Lundberg: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/lundberg/story/57646/making-the-case-1.asp

Also from Accuweather a good piece on the 'interesting' weather experienced in the state of Oklahoma this year: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/57651/oklageddon-what-a-year-in-the.asp 

Meantime, Stewart and Paul in southern Ontario, we're sharing very similar conditions this weekend with balmy temps in the low teens both sides of the Atlantic. Enjoy the weekend.

Hello folks, still benign conditions for most of Southern Ontario this Fall season. The past week having brought us a cold Friday at just 4.1c followed by rain on Sunday/Monday and milder weather at 12c yesterday. Still not seen a snowflake this season as of Nov 16, this is starting to get a tad unusual as by now in a normal scenario, Toronto & or Hamilton would have seen some lake effect flurries from somewhere.

These flurries are further to our N & W for tomorrow but lack the penetration so far to head east to affect the GTA. Things turning cold by tonight on the passing of a front which has brought heavy rain to much of the Eastern Third of the U.S. and tornadoes earlier in the week to Southern regions. Tomorrow's EC high of just 3c for the Hamilton area but it's short lived again as temps rebound by the weekend between 8-10c and cloudy.

Further West in Canada, winter has set in and for many highly populated areas of the West both in Canada & NW U.S. the first proper spell of cold with some snow is on it's way for the next week as an artic plunge of air moves South. Calgary expecting just 2-5cm of snow tonight into tomorrow, nothing of note for them but the temps will plunge and windchill will become noticeable for Peter out there. Places like Vancouver, Seattle & Portland also turning much colder with the risk of some snow over the next few days.

Back here, and Accuweather's Henry indicated yesterday that maybe things turning snowier for us next week as a storm system moves thru from Michegan to New England. Too early to say and as always time will tell, for now winter is vacationing elsewhere in Canada!

Take Care

Hello all, well i think someone somewhere was reading what i posted on Wednesday and then said 'told you sir!'. At 3pm on Thursday 17 November, the first snowflakes of the season duely arrived in downtown Hamilton. The very lake effect scenario i had dismissed 24hrs earlier occurred as lake effect flurries crossed Southern Ontario and reached the shores of Lake Ontario. It only lasted just over an hour and wasn't anything of any note, not settling just the occasional flurry but it was newsworthy as the first this fall/winter season 2011/12.

Cold this morning at -5c when i woke to come into work, now warmed to 5c, only 2c at 12midday up in Toronto. Looking like the weather trending colder than initial thoughts over the next week, temps between 4-7c with rain forecast for Monday. Henry on Accuweather still rooting for a North of I-80 snowevent including much of Southern Ontario mid next week as detailed here - http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/meteomadness/story/57944/i-would-urge-all-the.asp. Plenty of options for this not to happen, for one EC don't mention it anywhere! Watch this space with the usual dose of.....!

Out west, proper cold today. -16c at Calgary International at 12EST in snow. Don't have an update on how bad conditions have been with snowfall there in the last 48hrs, but it's certainly winter for Peter now.

This same artic push is bringing wide ranging snowevents to many parts of the N & W United States from OR to WY and eventually into MN by Sunday.

Any forecasting changes to firm up on a potential snowstorm next week i'll let you know. Whatever your upto, make it a great weekend everyone!

Weekend greetings,

Good to hear you've had your first snowflakes, Stewart. it's been a very benign Fall thus far in Southern Ontario, and going by Brett Anderson's take on the latest ECM LRF models this may well continue into December. http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/57967/updated-weekly-computer-model-outlook.asp

The much vaunted pattern-change is being talked of less and less, with even Henry M backing off a switch to cold weather in the east to begin December. In the shorter term it was a straight out GFS v ECM battle in terms of the potantial snowstorm for New England and southern Ontario in the middle of next week (the latter model has been showing the storm). The way things have been going I must say I wouldn't bet against the end result being a damp squib!

However there's certainly some cold air into the west, as Stewart mentioned - the same airmass that was bringing -40c/f readings to Fairbanks, Alaska earlier this week. It's been cold enough for some flurries in Vancouver overnight while sub -20c readings stretch from eastern BC through Alberta and into the Prairies and Great Plains, with a band of accumulating snow heading east through Minneapolis. Nice and snowy in Deadwood, SD this morning: http://www.sdpb.org/webcams/deadwood.aspx 

While temps will fall further east it won't be that much below average, and the whole chilly airmass will be shunted east quite quickly so that by Thursday coming it will be relatively mild through much of central North America.

Meantime, what do you think of the Blue Jays new logo Stewart? I quite like it myself.

Great Webcam

Thanks

Very cold again in Alaska and the Yukon, a few current readings:

Yukon

Whitehorse -34c
Old Crow -39c
Dawson -40c
Mayo Airport -41c

Alaska

Fairbanks -34c (-29f)
Fort Yukon -41c (-41f)
Northway Airport -42c (-43f)

http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/forecast/canada/summary_e.html?YT
http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/wx/current.html 

Hello folks, cold day in Southern Ontario. Just 2c at approaching 3pm in the Hamilton area after a very mild Sunday at 12c. Swings and roundabouts. Snowstorm for this week has now shifted some 600miles N & E of original potential location thus Toronto/Hamilton are in rain for tomorrow and Ottawa is now in the snowzone/mixing event with EC issuing warnings of upto 10cm of snow for the Capital.

After this rain, fairly quiet week returns with cloudy periods and cool but not cold. Makes me laugh when i read Accuweather at times and Henry in particular. Last week he forecasted this snowevent from Michigan N & E to the East Coast, this Monday he's claiming the NorthEast still have a snowstorm, shame he failed to mention the major geographical difference between his Friday & Monday forecast???

Henry also going big on indications that warmer surface analysis is showing a potential flip-flop of a winter for the eastern 3rd of the U.S. now as opposed to his snowmaggedon thoughts of a couple months back. Classic case of lrf's not being worth the paper written on, however his swings in forecasting mood and actual reality are (maybe 'bizzare' is too strong!).

As for the Jays new logo Graeme, i like it! I think it's quite retro and the new jerseys will look very good next campaign with the logo.

Take Care

Hello folks, quick Friday morning update before that 'w' word takes my attention again! After our near miss with the snowstorm earlier in the week which incidentally also ended up missing Ottawa and only glanced at Montreal, it's been a quieter second half to this week with fog yesterday morning and low cloud and fairly mild this morning at 6c. Was very interesting to read Brett Anderson's comments on the storm that was pretty poorly forecasted by the computer models in his opinion, maybe a case for relying too heavily nowadays in computer forecasting as opposed to knowledge?

Snow this weekend forecast for NW Ontario particulary north of Geraldton, ON upto 15cm possible. Here in the GTA the weekend not looking great with showers forecast but still fairly mild. EC are looking at more substantial unsettled conditions to develop as next week comes in. Monday, heavy rain with showers on Tuesday and more rain on Wednesday. At the minute, 5 days or so out, the temps also cool off with a high of just 3c for next Thursday in rain (maybe snow chances increase once the calender says Dec?).

I see some stormy weather has returned to Scotland over the past 24hrs or so and that there are tentative signs of colder air becoming a factor, fingers crossed it's for just before my arrival at xmas!

Whatever your upto, make it a great weekend.

Hello all, hope the weekend was a good one. It's a Monday off for me and the new week starts in the GTA with much colder conditions than the weekend with temps struggling to 4c later this afternoon and the start of some more rain moving in. Grotty Sunday, dismal and dreary really but mild if you like that sort of thing. At least this rain will herald the start of a potentially entertaining week of weather watching for the white stuff!

So, here's EC advisory on the rain through tonight, tomorrow and then the wintry hint added in :

Special weather statement issued by Environment Canada at 4:53 AM EST
Monday 28 November 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Special weather statement for:
=new= Elgin
=new= London - Middlesex
=new= Simcoe - Delhi - Norfolk
=new= Dunnville - Caledonia - Haldimand
=new= Oxford - Brant
=new= Niagara
=new= City of Hamilton
=new= Halton - Peel
=new= York - Durham
=new= Huron - Perth
=new= Waterloo - Wellington
=new= Dufferin - Innisfil
=new= Grey - Bruce
=new= Barrie - Orillia - Midland
=new= Belleville - Quinte - Northumberland
=new= Kingston - Prince Edward
=new= Peterborough - Kawartha Lakes
=new= Stirling - Tweed - South Frontenac
=new= Bancroft - Bon Echo Park
=new= Parry Sound - Muskoka
=new= Haliburton
=new= Renfrew - Pembroke - Barry's Bay
=new= Algonquin
=new= Burk's Falls - Bayfield Inlet
      Windsor - Essex - Chatham-Kent
      Sarnia - Lambton.

      A slow moving low pressure system will give heavy rain to
      Southern regions and a wintery mix including freezing rain east
      Of Georgian Bay.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
==discussion==
A slow moving low pressure system will approach Southwestern Ontario
this evening and heavy rain at times can be expected through the
regions into Tuesday.  Rainfall amounts in the 40 to 60 millimetre
range are forecast from tonight into Tuesday evening.
Rainfall warnings may be issued with this event especially through
the Windsor to Sarnia corridor where rainfall totals could reach 60
millimetres.

The northern edge of the rain bands will meet cold air across regions
from Parry Sound to Algonquin where freezing rain is expected.
There is also the possibility of a wintery mix through these regions
including ice pellets and snow that may continue all day Tuesday.
There is the potential for significant icing on surfaces and
accumulations of ice pellets or snow in the 5 to 10 cm range.
A winter storm watch has been issued to give advance notice to the
public of hazardous winter weather expected in the following regions:

Burk's Falls - Bayfield Inlet, Parry Sound - Muskoka - Huntsville,
Algonquin and northern Haliburton county.

The public is advised to monitor future forecasts and warnings as
warnings may be required or extended.

Well over 2 inches of rain expected which is welcome for some but this rain (could), i'll put that in brackets! Turn to snow for SW Ontario potentially reaching Guelph/Kitchener & Hamilton but probably not as far north as Toronto at this stage. A cold inversion into the back end of the rain will definately turn it to snow for much of Michigan. I'd say it's 60% risk right now but EC , even EC!! have a forecast of rain or snow and 3c for Hamilton come early Wednesday. This storm could be a cold wet one or it just could deliver the first proper glimspe of winter this season.

Behind the system it stays cold, but not bitter Canada cold! More wintery weather being muted for the weekend however long range outlook still shows average to mild conditions for much of Southern & Eastern Canada at least thru the first 2 weeks of December.

Take Care

The big news in Calgary was yesterday's windstorm that stuck the city and even made the news in some places out East.  See here if you fancy reading more about it, and take a look at some of the pics.  One of my friends houses took a direct hit from a pine tree, a blessing that nobody was injured!  It was a bit hairy for a time, and in downtown core winds gusting almost to 150km/hr took out some of the glass in the towers, and closed the core for my commute this morning. 

All this due to a low pressure system N of Alberta setting up an extreme pressure gradient equalling a Chinook on steroids.  Of course all that Chinooky action made for a very warm day.  All the more surprising to find the wind dropped to nothing and snow falling at the end of the day .  Crazy city!

Apart from that, November has been mostly benign as far as winter goes.  It's really been a no-season month.  Autumn has come and gone, but winter has not really arrived, apart from a few days that Stewart mentioned, where we had an arctic plunge and temps dropped down to -20.  Short lived though and temps soon climbed back above freezing. 

We've not really had a proper snowfall yet either - just bits here and there that have melted off fairly readily.  We're still waiting for a big dump that will stick.  Some comes tomorrow night, but doesn't look to be more that an inch or so.  After that, sunny and fairly mild, daytime temps around 4c (about 5c above normal for the time of year).  So winter...not really here yet......

Peter 

July 2011 - June 2012 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 30.4c 29/08/11
Coldest Temperature: -21.5c 20/11/11
Days with thunderstorms: 4
Days with rain falling: 20
Days with snow falling: 6
Days with snow lying: 13
Maximum snow depth: 1" (3cm)
Current snow depth 0" (0cm)

Calgary's weather is just as crazy as when I stayed there! It has a high of +8C today, yet tonight it will cloud over with temperatures falling (not rising underneath cloud) and it will snow with a low of -1C, then tomorrow it will snow with a high of -8C before rising to +3C melting the snow by Thursday:

http://www.cbc.ca/calgary/weather/s0000047.html

I have never noticed the temperature rising when cloud covers Alberta at nightime, like in the UK. Also I can never recall seeing rain turn to snow in Calgary, precipitation always starts off as snow even if it's +21C the day before! In Calgary it will either rain or snow, sleet is rare and only occurs in spring April/May/June etc!

Yeah forget the inch or so now.  Env Canada now have a winter storm warning up - gales and 10cm of snow tonight!  I guess winter wants in after all.

Cloud cover in the UK = no more radiative cooling.  Cloud cover in Calgary usually = arctic plunge.  Lack of radiative cooling doesn't figure highly in that scenario!

Well after the gales and dust storm you experienced in Calgary i look forward to reading your stats after the first proper snowfall event which was only forecasted yesterday for this evening!! - What an eventful week after a very benign November weatherwise! - The big question is that will this snowfall stick and be enough to last thoughout the whole of the winter!?

Interesting what you said about cloud cover too - I always wondered why in Calgary, it never warmed up during cloud cover at night allowing snow to turn back to sleet or even rain!