Quick Saturday update - Currently -11c in Toronto, -8c in Hamilton and -9c here in Dundas. Windchill has been steady at -15c, in sunshine for the most part, but i must say like Peter's comments, it's a major reminder stepping outdoors that this is Ontario and it is January! It will be a 'gentle' reminder no doubt to you Peter when the Artic train stops off at Calgary for a delayed visit! Not sure a whole load of folk actually know what -25c feels like, i'm sure you'll convey the outcome given the opportunity.

Back here, some snow and ice reports from Environment Canada on the initial storm front and then lake effect precip that brought this stinging cold spell to Southern Ontario. As you can see parts of the Niagara pennisula done very well out of this :

Location                       snowfall amount (cm)

Ottawa airport                 10 plus ice pellets/freezing rain
20 km E Ottawa                 20-25
Russell (se Ottawa)            16
Cornwall                       20-25 plus ice pellets/frzg rain
Franktown                      20 plus ice pellets/frzg rain
Drummond centre (nw Smiths Falls)             10 plus ice
pellets/frzg rain Kemptville                     10-15 (estimated)
Brockville                     10 (estimated) plus frzg rain
Port Colborne - crystal beach  10-15 (estimated)
St Catharines (S end)          18

In Dundas, like most parts including Toronto Pearson we've just got enough snow to white the ground, trace to 1cm. Slightly disappointing given the initial optimism from some quarters earlier in the week of a snowfest in the squalls. As you say Graeme, looking out for storm posibilities going forward, surely at some point we'll grab a proper snowevent before the end of January 'IF' the storm keep coming.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks.

Toronto so far only got a T on their snow on the ground listing for this month, very poor month so far Stewart.  The lowest snowfall depth was 1cm in Jan 1988. 

Head west for snow! I'll be keeping an eye on developments in Vancouver and Seattle over the next few days...

http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/SWS_bulletins_e.html?prov=bc

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/clark/big-snow-for-the-coastal-northwest/60273

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Whilst it looks very cold for Toronto at -16C currently (5AM) - there doesnt seem to be a lot of snow in the forecast if any:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/caon0696?ref=topnav_fourteenday_savedcity

Going up to +5C with rain tomorrow!?? - Must be frustrating for Torontonians who are waiting to see Lake Effect snow!

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Toronto does not usually receive much in the way of lake effect snow as it's not in any of the 'normal' lake effect snowbelts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Lakes_Snowbelt_EPA_fr.png (see here for a summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Toronto#Winter_and_snowfall). 'Alberta Clippers' provide frequent light snow events for the GTA while the holy grail that you will hear Stewart and others who live locally refer to is the 'Colorado Low' tracking south of Lake Ontario - from which you will get snow from the storm itself enhanced with an easterly fetch off the lake. Unfortunately that's not on the cards right now. [Edit: Then again! http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/SWS_bulletins_e.html?prov=on]

However it is cold from coast to coast - the first time this winter I recall seeing all the major Canadian cities from Vancouver to St John's below freezing. http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/canada_e.html

Meanwhile as we've been watching winter is arriving in style in Calgary - good shot at cracking -30c midweek? Edmonton is just about a certainty - in fact -30c might be the high come midweek! http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-50_metric_e.html 

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Down to -17c last night in Dundas/Hamilton, w/c was -22c, by far and away the coldest of the winter and then i awake thinking that was it for this wee cold period, turn on the tele and internet and thought again! If there was was Facebook style 'like' button this particular paragraph from EC would get double helpings  :

A change in the track may have a large effect on how much rain or
snow, or both a particular region could receive. If this low follows
a track further south than currently expected, there will be
potential for an accumulating snow event along with significantly
lower temperatures than currently forecast on Tuesday for much of
Southern Ontario near the Lower Great Lakes as well.

Environment Canada is closely monitoring this situation.

That is code for we don't have a clue and so usual health warnings must be attached and ramping reeled in (a tiny bit!). Henry on Accu has the main snow development well to the North of the GTA and thus rain is the order. I'm keeping a very close eye on this as Graeme you said, apart from being snow starved this winter, we're winter storm starved also. Any accumulating snowfall will be welcome!

Keep you posted.

Temperatures all to hell in Calgary, forecasts suggest lower than -30C when before just down to -25C. - But the Chinook will win!

Calgary's Chinook commeth.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/caab0049?ref=qlink_lt_14day

Toronto looks like it will miss out from snow again, - from -14C to -12C, now to -4C and up to 2C this afternoon and 7C tomorrow with rain...!!

Toronto's forecast from Weather Network.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/caon0696?ref=topnav_fourteenday_savedcity

Must have been a frustrating season for Torontonians. Ottawa/Montreal is dowing better with regards to cold weather! I spoke to a friend in Halifax and he said there has been snow but it has not lasted for more than a day! No real prolonged cold in the east and Maritimes, same for New York. What ever happened to the Lake Effect snow?

England isn't the only country snow-starved!

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A few model runs on and still no definative track for this lp entering Southern Ontario later this evening. TWN and to some extent EC not going for a favourable outcome for snow in the GTA this morning, maybe some wet snow for some locales as the storm exits tomorrow night. Still cold this morning at -5c currently and whether the snow comes or not in the next 24hrs, the outlook beyond Wednesday is for more snow opportunities and the temps remaining at or below 0c.

As for the Lake effect snow Tally, i posted a rundown of some fairly substantial totals created by Lake effect snow last Thursday and Friday mostly confined to the regular lake effect snowbelts as per Graeme's helpful link the other day. It is true to say that the first 6wks of winter have been very stop start for most of the eastern 3rd of N America. Pick out a location like New York and you see virtually no snow since their shock 2 inches in late October. However other eastern states and locations within New York State have had substantial snow events typical of winter, just nothing sustained. As for Montreal & Ottawa, their northern location compared to the GTA/Hamilton/Toronto will always help create more options for cold and snowy conditions, however Montreal for one is well behind in it's snow accumulation totals compared to a 'normal' winter and only just better than Ottawa in that regard. The GTA incidentally just had it's coldest weekend of the 2011/12 winter so not all doom and gloom.

Western Canada taking a total beating this Monday from the wintery conditions, even normally wet Vancouver getting snowed in today with 5cm at the Harbour forecast and 10cm higher up. TWN predicting some spots in BC/AB catch 25cm before the snowy low is done. The cold remains once the snow fizzles out for most the week.

Take Care

Yes the western side of Canada continues to cop the snow:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
638 AM PST MON JAN 16 2012

...STRONG WINTER STORM TO IMPACT SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND
NORTHWEST OREGON TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...

.COLD AIR HAS SETTLED OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND WILL RESULT
IN WINTRY WEATHER ACROSS SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST
OREGON THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A REINFORCING COLD
FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN OREGON TONIGHT AND
TUESDAY...BRINGING HEAVY SNOW TO THE CASCADES AND THE COLUMBIA
RIVER GORGE...ALONG WITH SOME POSSIBLE LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS DOWN
TO THE VALLEY FLOOR. A STRONGER LOW PRESSURE PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL
THEN MOVE IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...
SPREADING ABUNDANT MOISTURE OVER THE VERY COLD AIR MASS THAT IS
IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION. THIS WILL RESULT IN MORE HEAVY SNOW
FOR THE CASCADES AND COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE...AND MAY BRING
SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS TO THE LOWLANDS AS WELL...INCLUDING THE
PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER METRO AREA. DETAILS ARE STILL VERY
UNCERTAIN ESPECIALLY FOR THE LOWLANDS...BUT THE POTENTIAL IS
THERE FOR THIS TO BE A SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

I know you would probably get used to the conditions after a while, but what I'd give to spend a few weeks in the Cascades at this time of year!

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Yes interesting times indeed for the Pacific Northwest: both the Vancouver and Seattle webcams showing snow this morning (their time) with the prospect of more to come today and potentially something rather special midweek!

http://www.katkam.ca/

http://www.king5.com/weather/cameras/KING-Weather-Cams-63610662.html?img=0&sz=lrg&c=y

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Thanks for this, it's a beautiful picture the katkam captures.

On the same page lower down I especially liked the " Youtube A day in Vancouver" Time Lapse, of the weather, particulary the electrical storm.

Excellent 

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Yes, it's a great webcam, been one of my favourites for years - plus I've walked over the bridge in the shot so it brings back memories of happy times in Canada!

Distinctly chilly through western Canada and the Prairies this morning: Calgary and Edmonton both sitting at -30c. Saskatoon the coldest of the big cities right now at -38c with a wind chill of -45c.

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Had a text from a friend this morning in the Heritage, Shawnessy area in south Calgary and she said it was -36C with a wind chill of -49C. Brr...!!

Don't worry Chinook will be on it's way, not the shopping Mall but the winds lolol.

Crazy to believe that it was only a week ago Calgary was experiencing temperatures of +14 or 15C.

Back here at home perhaps this record breaking day could be followed by much colder weather. I remember on 17th Jan 2005 and Jiries will confirm this that in Toronto it was 17C (record breaking warmth) that day and then within a few days it was -18C with heavy snow from 20th-22nd January 2005. Remember Jiries!?

We must not be fooled by this unusually mild weather in England!

 

 

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Wednesday evening post for an update on winter's on/off relationship with Southern Ontario. Yesterday we saw the milder option take hold, so no snow and eventually a high temp of +10c/50f in rain, around 17mm fell - not pleasent! Further north even struggled also, Ottawa had freezing rain and major ice problems for a couple hours and in Montreal, originally pencilled in for a storm of all snow....it turned to a thaw for a couple hours according to Brett on Accuweather. Today, we're back to the weekend's conditions of occasional snow flurries and bitterly cold conditions. Currently -7c in a w/c of -11c.

Of interest is the events shaping up for the next 72hrs or so. Firstly, tomorrow most of the GTA and Southern Ontario will see probably the first cold clipper system enter since last winter and distribute anything from 2-5cm of snow across a wide area. Perhaps, but not quite (proper snowfall!) Then as the cold continues a storm system out of the states is currently forecast to track along the U.S./Canadian border on Fri night into Saturday. This is one storm currently that i'd love to see track further north just like it's brother did yesterday as it would put most of Southern Ontario including the Golden Horseshoe on 'proper snowfall alert' territory. At the minute EC and Accuweather have us in snow for Saturday but between 2-8cm (8cm being the higher end of the scale). However, if it tracks further north then the potential is there for bigger snowtotals and proper wintery weather upto 15cm (6 inches). Definately watching it closely.

Further West in Canada and the brutal cold continues for Peter in Calgary, temps not much better by what i can gather than -30c today. In Vancouver Metroland, not used to such extreme cold they saw -7c on their morning commute......for a sea-level city that is fairly remarkable snow did fall during Wednesday in Downtown but not as much as affected parts of Vancouver Island enhanced by the sea and also of course the newsworthy snows that Seattle saw today, maybe upto a foot in some parts of that usually snowless American city!

I bet right now the folks at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are sorry the event wasn't this February!

Take Care

Snow causing major problems this afternoon across Southern Ontario and in particular around here in Hamilton dozens of road traffic collisons, i think people may have forgotten how to drive in this weather? Here's the latest situation from thespec.com - http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/657550--blizzard-drops-white-curtain-on-local-roads.

Snow has fallen heavily in bands as it sweeps across Southern Ont. looking at the latest radar the worst of the conditions do seem to be in a line from London-Hamilton out to Niagara. The QEW in St.Catharine's is said to be impassable in some spots more due to ice i suspect. Hamilton has a snow squall warning currently in force since 1429est from EC for these conditions. Radar shows the weather clearing the city area by about 1600/1630, Toronto so far hasn't seen the intensity in the bands that we've seen here.

Probably a good 2 inches outside, will try at some point to post some pics if i get the chance. More to come on Saturday!!!

Take Care

Hello folks, judging by how far down the TWO list the thread has fallen this week will tell you that this week isn't holding as much defined weather as the past 7 days. The cold plunge out West has gone for the most part, Vancouver having returned to the normal weather type of rain rather than snow, Calgary now seeing temps at or just below 0c rather than in the minus silly region and for Southern Ontario we're back into a more fluctuating pattern of one day cold, the next milder and despite the signs of last week that a more colder pattern would establish, this hasn't as of yet materilised.

Last week's fleeting glimspe of snow was just that fleeting. The snow event is wrote about last Thursday penned for Saturday went South literally. Parts of NY state done quite nicely out of it and even in the big apple itself, ploughable snow fell before turning to slush as temps rose. For Toronto/Hamilton it was a cm or two at best, nothing worth reporting on and although it was very nice to see at one stage 8cm of measured snow outside our home in Dundas, it was washed away by rain on Monday and thus the pattern seen for most of Dec/Early Jan returned.

Snow flurries yesterday have given way to clearer skies today before rain not snow moves into the GTA on Thursday. Temps cold for today at -2c back to +4c for tomorrow. The 5 day outlook remains very similar with wet storm days followed by snow flurries then more wet storms!!!

Take Care

Currently raining/freezing rain in southern Ontario so it seems at +1C.

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Mild in New York City too at +15C with rain!

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No lying snow in the city of Toronto either:

I remember this area familiar its on the Gardiner and Bathurst:

http://www.toronto.ca/trafficimages/loc16.jpg

Gardiner/York and Young:

http://www.toronto.ca/trafficimages/loc9.jpg

Looks very miserable just like in the UK!

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Quick post as it's a busy afternoon in the office. As Tallyho posted yesterday Freezing Rain did indeed affect parts of Southern Ontario, particulary those areas NE of the GTA, some locations SW of T.O. also saw extended periods of light freezing drizzle enough so that some GO Transit bus services were cancelled this morning during the rush-hour due to the dangerous road conditions and in the GTA, some school bus services were also badly affected.

Snow is now the main focus for the next 36hrs or so, a system is expected to develop over the next few hours and merge with another more potent lp for tomorrow to create snowfall totals between 2-5cm widely across Southern Ontario but in this case mainly the GTA/Lakeshore/Hamilton area. Local blowing snow being mentioned in the forecasts and EC advise not to drive tomorrow if at all possible, things could be proper nasty on some lakeshore area highways which sounds to me as code for maybe slightly higher lake-enhanced snowfall could be expected. One to watch for sure.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sea Ice is causing issues in the Bering Strait off the coast of Alaska - sea ice is furthest south for 20 years

 

http://www.adn.com/2012/01/25/v-gallery/2283664/ice-in-central-bering-sea-is-threatening.html

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Not surprised - it's been a brutal winter in Alaska. Of course the cold bottled up there for most of the winter has been one of the reasons much of the rest of NA has been so relatively mild. 

-52c at Old Crow, Yukon right now. I thought that might be a faulty reading but temps in nearby Alaska are in the same extreme range.

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Haven't heard from peter lately - less than a week ago it was -30C in Calgary and today it's plus +12C

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/CAAB0049

 

 

 

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Hello folks, quick Monday morning post to report that most of the Lakeshore/GTA area recieved a good fall of snow during Sunday afternoon and early evening causing some major problems on the roads around here as whiteout conditions were experienced briefly. The Spec sums it all up well this morning - http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/662779--two-collapse-shoveling-snow-as-hamilton-dumped-on. Dundas saw about 10cm, a normal amount but given what went before this winter the highest single snowfall event total of the season.

More snow on the way later today, maybe another 5cm (2inches) or so before it turns milder behind and we go into a less cold cycle as has been the case for most of the winter. At the minute, everything looking just fab and even snowless T.O. had some snow over the weekend and more for them also today.

And finally, some image that is of the ice flows over Alaska in the bering sea, very impressive and as has already been said, not surprising either given their snowy and cold winter so far. I wonder if the crews on Deadliest Catch are finding the crab thru all that ice?

Take Care

Snow all melted in Calgary:

http://webcams.shawtv.com/athome-cams/cam1.jpg 

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