Quick Saturday night update. Thought i'd post on an eventful 24hrs of weather here in the City of Hamilton area with very strong wind gusts last evening and overnight across a wide area. So much so that we lost power here in Dundas for a good 5-6hrs, not uncommon as regulars will know but still significant and showing the power the winds had from the NW in the wake the cold front that brought little rain but a marked change in weather type and feel. The Spec.com gives an excellent summary of the problems with power in Ancaster, Dundas and other parts of Hamilton - http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/681010--strong-winds-down-power-lines.

Further to that, here is some EC reports of gusts recorded across a wide area of the GTA and Niagara Pennisula overnight into Saturday :

Location            strongest wind       time (EST)
                        (km/h)

Windsor                  85                11.00 PM
Sarnia                   81                 4.00 AM
London airport           87                 2.00 AM
Delhi                    81                 2.00 AM
Long Point              113                 3.00 AM
Hamilton airport         99                 5.00 AM
Vineland                 97                 4.00 AM
Port Colborne            93                 2.00 AM
Port Weller              81                 6.00 AM
St. Catharines          104                10.00 AM
Wiarton                  95                 6.00 AM and 8.00 AM
Mount Forest             81                 6.00 AM
Elora                    87                 7.00 AM
Kitchener                93                 6.30 AM
Baden ( W Kitchener)    109                 3.55 AM
Borden                   91                 6.00 AM
Toronto Island           91                 7.00 AM
Toronto airport          98                 7.45 AM (north field)
Oshawa                   80                 4.00 AM
Cobourg                 104                 5.00 AM
Lagoon City              85                 7.00 AM - 11.00 AM
Peterborough             80                 7.00 AM
Trenton                  91                 6.00 AM
Point Petre             100                12.00 PM
Kingston                 96                 1.00 PM
Brockville               85                 9.00 AM and 12.00 PM
massena ny (S Cornwall) 100                12.16 PM

This weather system of course brought incredibe news reports and devastation to at least 5 hard hit states in the U.S. including OH, AL, KY, TN & of course worst hit IN. Death toll as of an hour ago was anything between 30-35 people depending of what source, a truely shocking afternoon of weather Friday for these folk, some of which had dealt with the earlier Tornado issues of Tuesday last week. The town of Henrysville, IN which i was closely watching on the WHAS link yesterday took a direct hit and the scenes of utter devastation still shock. Reports tonight of a 2-y-old girl found in a field some 2 miles from her home which illustrates fully the power of these Twisters, no report of her injuries.

Take Care

Hmm, maybe in some places, but no freezing drizzle here, just snow grains.  More on that in a min.

I think the weather Network have named Snow grains" as freezing drizzle instead!! Now it shows light snow at -4C!! How deep is it!? Will be strange if you had more snow in one fall then the whole of the winter, because looking at your stats, it seems like 15cm is the total depth of snow throughout the whole of the winter!??

Well, things have changed a bit since I last wrote.  Got some snow two weekends in a row, and other bits as well.  The smattering that was supposed to fall last weekend left 8cm on the ground, which is always good as we've been rather dry this winter.

Right now we're under a snow warning:

3:35 PM MST Monday 05 March 2012
Snowfall warning for
City of Calgary continued

    Additional 5 to 15 centimetres of snow by Tuesday morning.

A Pacific weather system moving into Alberta will continue to produce heavy snow over Southern Alberta tonight. Conditions will deteriorate this evening as the system moves east of the foothills. Further snowfall accumulations are expected to be in the 5 to 15 centimetre range. As the system moves eastward, winds in the Hanna - Coronation - Oyen region will gust to 60 km/h and give visibilities below 1 kilometre in snow and blowing snow. Conditions will begin to improve on Tuesday as the system moves into Southern Saskatchewan.

We've been having flurries and light snow all day, temps sitting at -4c, and as I look at the radar there is a heavy band of snow to the North of Calgary.  Roads are very bad there, and the travel advisory is - DON'T.  Will that band come to us - don't know yet, but that would be the difference between 5cm and 15cm.

After this little winter interlude, temps pick right back up and by midweek our daytime max's should be at about 12c.  The sun is starting to gather in strength now, and as we are so high, starting to feel like it as well!

Roll on our crazy Spring weather.

Peter 

July 2011 - June 2012 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 30.4c 29/08/11
Coldest Temperature: -32.4c 18/01/12
Days with thunderstorms: 4
Days with rain falling: 20
Days with snow falling: 32
Days with snow lying: 88
Maximum snow depth: 6" (15cm)
Current snow depth 3" (10cm)

Hello all, the swings and roundabouts of North American Weather graphically demonstrated at the minute. Last Friday those devastating Tornadoes were ripping through IN and an EF4 all but wiped parts of Henryville, IN off the map. Just 48hrs later, mother nature swung 180 and brought over 5 inches of snow overnight to the same hard pressed communities.

Although not on that scale, Ontario has experienced a similar wild temperature ride this week. Starting cold, turning record-breakingly hot (well warm!) yesterday before back down to cold and snow flurries for tomorrow. The weather ride doesn't end there though as indications are that more unseasonably very mild even warm air will be with us thru Sun-Mon.

On the warm Wednesday.....almost a record-breaker for Toronto as temps peaked at an incredible 16c, just 0.7c off the all-time record. One or two local T.O. stations did report a record breaking temp of 16.8c. In Hamilton, we reached 16c which as far as i know wasn't a record but certainly compared to last March 7, where the mercury was -1c, it was a significant depature from the norm. Other Southern Ontario towns did smash their March temperature record including Sarnia & Kitchener/Waterloo by some 8c higher than previous values.

It wasn't amazingly warm to feel due to near 40kph S wind unless you were downtown in some wind shelter!

Now we've got winter trying to barge back in as tonight, rain showers will clear to snow flurries by morning and the temperature expected to fall to -3c by daybreak. As i said, looking like going higher again into and thru the weekend.

And, yesterday on Accuweather they were talking about this spring season for North America being one of the mildest/warmest on record, which could mean a very early start to summery weather for us, but with all that heat Thunderstorms could arrive earlier than May and certainly could spell major trouble to the U.S. Mid-West & South thru the traditional Severe Weather months upcoming.

Day off tomorrow for Friday and a long weekend. Might just visit Niagara-on-the-lake on Sunday if EC have got their forecast in order....!

Have a great weekend everyone whatever your upto make it a good one.

Glad i wasn't going into work this morning as a particulary heavy snowsquall caused absolute chaos in the City of Hamilton area during this morning's rush-hour. The Spec reports here - http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/684368--sudden-snow-squall-snarls-hamilton-traffic. Snow flurries were expected but not on this scale. It affected a very localised area restricted to the Lakeshore area from Burlington/Hamilton down to Grimsby. Conditions best described for a sustained 10min period near 8am as 'whiteout'. Amazing stuff really and defiantely one for the history books.

Temps have modified slightly as the day has gone on and the intense band of snow moved East into Upstate NY. For a time, before the sun came out - it left a good inch on all surfaces and maybe as much as 2 inches on unpaved areas.

Incredible start to the weekend for me, still on for a major rise in temps to +16c by Sunday, Monday looking more showery now.

Take Care

My cousin from Toronto complained to me about the weather lately because of clothing issue, either to wear winter jacket or not, light or heavy clothing due to wild temps.  May I ask how you mean record breaking temps for that day only?  21.4C is the highest temps for today date record set in 2000.

Hi Jiries, yep for some reason they calculate temp records based on the date and not the month. So for March 7, it was a record in many locations.

Weekend greetings everyone, been another busy spell in work keeping me away from the thread.

Thanks for the updates as usual! Been keeping an eye on the weather in Newfoundland this week as we're in a classic early spring snowstorm pattern at the moment. St John's got hammered (with a blizzard warning) midweek and there's another winter storm watch out for today. The worst of the precip may just pass to the east though meaning a modest (by their standards) 10c snowfall only.

Back in southern Ontario as Stewart reports Spring is off to an early start after a winter that never really got going (bit like eastern Scotland then!). A chilly -9c in Toronto right now but after today temps rebound massively with highs next week likely to be in the 11c-18c range (average around 3c or 4c).

Brett's review of the ECM seasonal forecast (cue large pinch of salt) shows more warmth on the way. http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/anderson/long-range-computer-model-outlook-for-spring-and-summer/62585

Meantime Spring Training is now in full swing - am liking the early reports coming through Stewart. Call me an optimist but if the Blue Jays can stay healthy I feel they will compete hard in the tough AL East this year!

Enjoy the weekend!

Warm weather taking shape for Southern Ontario this upcoming week: http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/SWS_bulletins_e.html?prov=on

80f looks to be on the cards for Baltimore/Washington come Tuesday...certainly going to be remarkably warm for the time of year over much of eastern NA!

Quick post, quite abit cooler than Sunday across Southern Ontario with a good deal of cloud about and one or two bursts of showery rain which might turn heavier and perhaps Thundery after dark. Temp 10c/50f. Yesterday however was a record breaker as EC detail here -

==weather event discussion==
Sunday March 11 2012 saw unseasonably mild air which brought spring
like temperatures to Southern Ontario.  Temperature records fell in a
few locations and are listed below.  Although temperatures
Will cool slightly on Monday, balmy conditions will return on
Tuesday and continue through the remainder of the week.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Location                    temperature record      previous record

Toronto Pearson airport     17.7                    15.3 (1977)
Hamilton                          15.4                    15.0 (1973)
Ottawa                             11.8                    10.5 (1977)

This weather summary contains preliminary information and may not
constitute an official or final report.

A record for 3 of Southern Ontario's big cities and i'm sure many other locations were broken yesterday afternoon. Crazy weather for March 11, we went to Niagara-on-the-lake and you had to pinch yourself that it was only March, only a slight breeze compared to the near gale that brought the high values last Wednesday.

As EC say temps expected to rise again by this wednesday, maybe as high as 18-19c in Hamilton upto 21c (YES 21c/70f) in Toronto wow!

Blue Jays doing very well in spring training Graeme, excitement building as April nears!

Take Care

Nice piece from Joe Lundberg on the warm spell over much of the eastern 2/3rds of NA: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/lundberg/records-were-ma/62682 

http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:60453.1.99999

Very warm over Oak Lawn, Chicago and most of USA are basking in a record March heatwaves. 

http://www.wunderground.com/climate/extremes.asp?lat=40.38003&lon=-93.51562&zoom=4&type=roadmap&units=english&extremes=1&extremes.db=ncdc&extremes.alldates=0&extremes.maxt=1&extremes.mint=0&extremes.lomx=0&extremes.himn=0&extremes.prcp=0&extremes.prcp_min=0&extremes.snow=0&extremes.alltime=1&extremes.yearly=0&extremes.monthly=1&extremes.daily=1&extremes.storm=0&extremes.startdate=2012-03-14&extremes.enddate=2012-03-14

On the other hand, recently, St John's in Newfoundland and Labrador has had severe blizzards with plenty of snow

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/03/07/nl-blizzard-newfoundland-307.html

While the coast of Oregon has had record snowfall

http://news.opb.org/article/oregon-coast-sees-record-march-snow/

Yes so bloody interesting climate out there and really find it strange to go outside at 27C in March and still the same now.  It was 17C last night and looking at the webcam it show lot of sunshine and some scattered clouds.

No such wramth yet for Toronto which was only 17C with severe thunderstorm watch in effect but 20C forecast for tomorrow and 22C on Sunday while rest of other days is 19-20C.  Average for this time of the year supposed to be at 5C.  Amazing.

We're pretty warm in Calgary too, but nothing like those temp swings.  Are you sure you're not getting Chinooks??!

Temps are regularly above the average max of 4c here, and as I write it's blue skies and a pleasant 7c out.  Not so much tomorrow, as a system slides down the east of the Rockies and is forecast to dump 5-10cm of snow on us.  Doesn't last though, Sunday temps are back up and we'll be having a slush event.

The moisture is all good though, after a very dry winter!

Peter 

July 2011 - June 2012 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 30.4c 29/08/11
Coldest Temperature: -32.4c 18/01/12
Days with thunderstorms: 4
Days with rain falling: 21
Days with snow falling: 33
Days with snow lying: 91
Maximum snow depth: 6" (15cm)
Current snow depth 0" (0cm)

Quite. In all my years of watching NA weather I've never seen anything like the early season warmth this March, for duration, the large area affected or intensity. The current EC forecast for Winnipeg calls for a high of 26c Sunday and Monday. That's a bewildering 27c above the average for the time of year. Even if it doesn't come off, it's still likely to be at least 20c above average. Incredible.

Hello folks, the word being used on here 'incredible' just sums up perfectly what the past week of weather has been like for much of North America, especially the Middle to Eastern Third. Southern Ontario being no different to this. Blistering warmth spread northwards and has continued to do so, summerlike warmth in March. EC just released an overview for parts of Southern Ontario showing many locations broke their all-time record for March 16, Hamilton as you can see below topped the lot!  -

==weather event discussion==

A very early feast of almost summer-like warmth has started.

Very warm air, more typical of late may or early June, combined
With the strong March sun has resulted in a number of new record
maximum temperature records being set for Friday 16-mar-2012. Please
refer to the table below for more details.

This warm spell is projected to last well into next week, and will
provide many more opportunities for new record maximum temperatures
to be set over the next few days. It is also quite possible that by
later next week, a few locales may experience the longest stretch of
days in a row in March where the mercury reaches or exceeds 20.0 c.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Location                    temperature record      previous record

London                      21.5                    20.6 (1945)
Kitchener-Waterloo          21.4                    19.4 (1945)
Toronto Pearson airport     19.3                    18.3 (1945)
Toronto Buttonville         18.9                    16.3 (2010)
Hamilton airport            21.8                    16.1 (1995)
Hamilton botanical gardens  19.5                    18.0 (1995)
Welland                     20.1                    20.0 (1945)
Mount Forest                19.8                    17.8 (1945)
Wiarton                     15.1                    13.4 (2003)
Muskoka                     16.8                    14.0 (2003)
Beatrice                    16.7                    15.5 (2003)
Peterborough                20.2                    16.2 (2010)
Trenton                     18.5                    17.4 (1990)

In Hamilton's case the record went back just 17yrs, however look at all those records smashed from 1945 including Toronto Pearson.

It's been very unusual and all indications show it will continue well into next week despite a cooler day here today due to some stubborn fog and haze which has lowered the temps to just 11c in T.O. & 13c in Hamilton currently. We did see some storms out of this warmth on Thursday and most GTA locations at one stage or another were on a STW. The storms in the GTA however had largely pettered-out as the moved East from the shores of Erie & Huron. As you may have seen on tv, at least 2 confirmed Tornadoes touched down just South of Ann Arbor, MI destroying over 100 properties but fortunately with no loss of live or serious injuries.

This coming week promises more stormy weather as the heat clashes with instability and there are good forecasts currently for a Tornado outbreak to be centered initially in OK an KS early in the week before the risk potentially moves Eastward.

For me, it's a trip to NYC tomorrow for a 4-day course. A chance to see the big apple again and the joys of EWR first and last!

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone

Only 5.6C and 11.5C in Toronto yesterday due to fog that ruined their day.  SE wind flow from the cold Lake Ontario caused this all day fog.  I am sure many people would be annoyed with it since on other side of the next lake where Chicago sit got high 20's temps.

Otherwise very interesting warm weather coming up this week. 

The average maximum temperature in Winnipeg in March is -1.1C

They are forecast to go up to 27C this week!! 

That's like London recording an ice day in the middle of July 

Incredible is the word: latest forecast for Ottawa this week projects highs for the next four days as 25c, 24c, 26c, 26c (average high at this time of year is 3c)  http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/on-118_metric_e.html

But it's not all exceptional warmth coast to coast, winter storm warning out for parts of southern Saskatchewan: http://weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?sk15#sk15-655cwwg-066300

Brett's take on events: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/anderson/what-a-strange-month-1/62967

Crazy abnormal and erratic weather for Ottawa: - It's +25C and only March! - is this a record high!?

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/caon0512?ref=topnav_fourteenday_savedcity

With record heatwaves there I am wondering what will impact their summers?  UK are good at getting poor summers most of the time if we have record warmth/hot springs.