Someone on wunderground said that with the jet stream pushed so far north across the eastern US, incursions of cold air are likely to be limited and hence the build of heat from now until summer will be nearly relentless, resulting in a hot summer.

I'm not sure whether that is a load of codswallop or not but I'm sure someone on here does! I personally can't see why the pattern couldn't change such that the jet buckles south across the eastern US rather than north, producing predominantly cool weather. After all, its managed that for the UK in recent years!

Indeed SC, another thing in my mind what the amount of warmth of 20C above average, if this occur in summer I am sure they would be in the low 40's by then.  Toronto hottest record was 41C while highest temps for somewhere in Canada was 46C so that probably when the jet really went far far too north.

Another day, another set of incredible record-breaking temps: my favourite today is Moosonee, in northern Ontario: average high at this time of year around -4c, temp this afternoon +23c (after a high of 20c yesterday)....things cool down somewhat by the weekend, high of -6c expected on Sunday.

A rather sharp dividing line in the current push of warm air over Atlantic Canada: high tomorrow of +18c expected in Charlottetown, while up in NF only -3c in St John's!

Another nice blog entry from Joe Lundberg: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/lundberg/wild-weather-co-1/63011

Imagine taking a road trip tomorrow from Charlottetown to St John's and back again.

That said, hop on a plane and you can experience +30C and -30C on the same day I suppose... you'd probably need to do some road tripping or use other means of air transport to achieve that though!

Have made that road trip (involved a ferry too of course) - some great scenery and interesting weather!

Current readings in eastern Canada are simply amazing for March:

Toronto 21c
Ottawa 27c 
Montreal 25c
Fredericton 27c
Halifax 26c 
Charlottetown 20c

and, er, St John's -4c  

What on Earth must the wildlife be making of those extreme temperatures for the time of year?

I love St John's, one of my favourite climates!

The Charlottetown reading is very impressive however, considering Prince Edward Island is often surrounded by sea ice 

Oak Lawn current temps now 29C after it reached 30C and 20C last night, my wife's brother who live there have to use A/C at night and it really amazing to reach 20C overnight in March.  He told us it not humid but sunny, hot and dry and shocked how early the heat is but they kept the winter gear on standby and not put away yet.

Wow, serious warmth, the thought of it

Yes and I think all HP set-up there does not have any problems with clouds or weak fronts that why they allow very high temps.   26C are forecasted for today in Toronto but will drop back this weekend to near seasonal average.  We had 25C here in Wakefield in March 1990 but to see 30C in March I cannot imagine the feeling of it, but we did last Oct 1st 2011 which was amazing experience so probably the same experience here if we get 30C in March.

Hello all, back in the office his afternoon after the trip to NYC and what can i say except one word maybe for this weather ' wow ' !  This is a record breaking truely amazing spell of weather not just for most of Ontario but for most of interior sections of Mid-NorthEastern U.S. also. Chicago O'Hare has smashed a record for days in a row with +80f values in March. Toronto, Philly and Ottawa all smashed there daily records for March and continue to do so. Environment Canada sum up well the ongoing record warmth :

==weather event discussion==

A huge unprecedented feast of summer in March.

We are in the midst of a historic March warm spell across Ontario
with record temperatures tumbling by the dozen every day. Some
records have been shattered by more than 15 degrees. Afternoon
temperatures yesterday and today are more typical of average
afternoon temperatures in the summer.

The sizzling maximum temperature of 28.8 c reported in Petawawa
Wednesday is the second highest temperature ever recorded in
Ontario in March. The highest temperature recorded during March was
A midsummer like 29.4 c in Wallaceburg on 26-mar-1921. Interestingly
enough, two short days later on March 28, 1921 many folks must have
been shocked when the temperatures remained just below freezing all
day long.

Normally we are still often feeling the frosty fingers of old man
winter's final presence of the season interspersed with a few
normally mild days of early spring where temperatures get into the
low to mid teens. But instead, words such as humidex, tulips,
Fresh green grass, patio weather, swimming pool opening, and
summerlike warmth are on everybody's lips. Satellite photos and
surface observations indicate that there is no significant
Snow cover left across Southern Ontario.

This warm spell is also remarkable for its duration. It is more
reminiscent of a persistent summer heatwave. Many locales such as
Windsor, Sarnia, London and Kitchener have enjoyed 7 or 8 days in a
row where the afternoon temperature reached 20.0 c or higher. This
Is unprecedented for March in Ontario. This record long warm spell is
will last through today after which a cold front will introduce
somewhat cooler air (but still above normal) on Friday.

Below are record maximum temperature records set on Wednesday
21-mar-2012. Please refer to the table below for more details.

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

Windsor               27.8                      21.9 (1991)
Sarnia                27.9                      19.2 (1991)
London                26.4                      16.1 (1946)
Kitchener-Waterloo    26.3                      20.0 (1918)
Hamilton              25.6                      12.8 (1976,1979)
Mount Forest          25.3                      18.9 (1918)
Wiarton               27.2                      16.1 (1948)
Toronto downtown      22.4                      16.7 (1938,1946,1948)
Toronto Pearson       23.3                      17.8 (1948)
Buttonville           24.6                      10.4 (1990)
Barrie                24.8                      17.8 (1921)
Borden                27.8                      17.8 (1938)
Trenton               22.5                      13.3 (1938)
Kingston              18.7                      12.8  (1979)
Peterborough          24.3                      17.2 (1903,1938,1946)
Muskoka               26.7                      16.7 (1946)
Parry Sound           25.4                      15.6 (1921)
Algonquin east gate   26.5                      14.4 (1918,1948)
Ottawa                27.4                      17.8 (1946)
Petawawa              28.8                      12.2 (1976,2000)

Cities & Towns up and down Ontario are not just breaking temp values but inalilating them!. For us in the Hamilton area, look at yesterday, it was the warmest March 21st since 1979 by nearly 13c , that's bonkers surely? Today currently at approaching 4pm, it's 25c in Hamilton, 26c in Toronto and 27c in Ottawa. You'd be very happy with this weather in June/July i'd run to the bank now with this and keep it for June. Stunning weather and the garden's lovin' it.

Only one problem though, it is March and when the weather turns this weekend back down to stil above average values but in the teens C, reality will bite just a bit. I'm encouraged by the potential for a long warm spring here, the downside would be as i said last week that this could increase the chances of more Severe weather whenever instability hits the upper atmosphere.

For now, we enjoy in the shorts and t-shirt as this is about as good as it could possibly get in the 3rd month of the year. Stunning.....Incredible......Fantastic (you get the picture)

Take Care

Amazing figures and really shocking too.  I just managed 19.6C here which was the minimum for Oak Lawn overnight temps.  

More incredible temperatures broken for one last day this amazing March on the 22nd :

 A memorable feast of summer in March is ending.

Cooler air is slowly returning to Southern Ontario. Except for
One more day today in the low twenties in the Windsor to Sarnia
Areas where the warm air and some sunshine will struggle to hang
On, the mercury will remain in the teens for the first time in
several days to over a week in many localities. Temperatures though
today will still be quite a few degrees higher than average for
Early spring.

This unusual warm spell is also remarkable for its duration. Many
locales such as Windsor, Sarnia, London and Kitchener have enjoyed 8
or 9 days in a row where the afternoon temperature reached 20.0 c or
higher. This is unprecedented for March in Ontario and the record
books have been rewritten accordingly.

Below are record maximum temperature records set on Thursday
22-mar-2012. Exceptionally warm all time March maximum temperatures
of 28.5 c at Tillsonburg and 28.0 c at Amherstburg were recorded,
But temperature records for these sites are relatively short.
Please refer to the table below for more details.

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

Windsor                     28.4                 18.8 (2007)
Harrow                      23.5                 22.2 (1938)
Sarnia                      25.5                 15.0 (2007)
London                      27.5                 23.9 (1938)
St Thomas                   26.0                 22.8 (1938)
Delhi                       27.3                 23.9 (1938)
Woodstock                   27.0                 22.8 (1938)
roseville                   27.0                 15.5 (1979)
Kitchener-Waterloo          26.5                 21.7 (1938)
Fergus shand dam            26.0                 14.5 (1979)
Hamilton                    26.8                 17.8 (1910)
Fort Erie                   22.0                 18.0 (1979)
Port Colborne               21.0                 17.0 (1979)
Wiarton                     18.3                 13.9 (2007)
Kincardine                  25.0                 12.0 (2007)
Toronto downtown            24.3                 22.8 (1938)
Toronto Pearson             26.0                 24.4 (1938)
Buttonville                 26.3                 18.4 (1988)
Barrie                      24.1                 16.0 (1907,1953)
Orillia                     24.5                 17.2 (1935)
Muskoka                     23.7                 15.7 (1987)
Peterborough                26.0                 24.4 (1938)
Trenton                     17.7                 16.7 (1953)
Kingston                    16.1                 12.8 (1949)
Bancroft                    22.8                 16.5 (1979)
Brockville                  24.9                 22.8 (1938)
Ottawa                      24.9                 15.6 (1953,2000)
Ottawa (Canada department of agriculture) 23.7  15.2 (2000)                                                                                                       Kemptville                  24.5                 16.7(1953)

Yesterday was the warmest March 22nd since 1910 in Hamilton, even with my arithmatic  that's 102 years ago! Not just broken but smashed the record for a homer by 9c. And similar long standing records since before WW2 for both main Toronto area airports.

Weather is on the change though, just 12c currently here in Dundas and a keen 40kph+ breeze blowing taking the edge off further. Showers and even cooler air arrive into Southern Ontario this evening bringing a significantly colder Saturday currently forecast between 6-8c, which is just the 20c drop in temps in 48hrs (thinking this is Calgary for a minute!).

Outlook takes a more unsettled feel into next week with temps possibly at least short term returning to near average values.

Have a great weekend everyone

Well, it's snowing (light flurries) and -3c here today.  Somebody had to have some cooler weather so Stewart could have record warmth!  Not that we've been particularly cool in general though, it's been warmer than average most of this month.  Got a few unsettled days now with snow and the chance of rain showers (rain again, wow haven't seen much of that for the last 6 months) but by Tuesday it looks to be clearing up and the temps max into the low teens here in sunny Alberta.

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: 22
Days with snow falling: 36
Days with snow lying: 93
Maximum snow depth: 6" (15cm)
Current snow depth Trace" (Trace cm)

According to AccuWeather's map -It looks like most of the USA and Canada have had a milder/warmer than average winter:

http://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/abrams/2012/590x393_03201831_aa.jpg

Stewart!? - Just looking at your statistics for winter on your signature and it is hard to belive that you have only experienced a maximum snow depth of 14cm and yet you have had 41 days of snow falling!?

Bit of a reality check for those cities in eastern Canada that had the long run of record-breaking high temperatures last week. Gone are the consecutive days of 20-27c readings, highs today ranging from +4c in Toronto to -2c in Quebec City. Lows tonight in the -7c to -12c range. Blowing snow warning out for Charlottetown, PEI, 10cm of snow expected with winds gusting to 90 km/h. A reminder it's still only early Spring!

Hello all, quieter week of weather for Southern Ontario with the heat now long gone it's been back to average even slightly cooler than average days and cold enough at night for a touch of frost. Almost unbelievably, snow is the buzzword this afternoon across parts of the area, particulary north of Toronto as EC highlight here :

Special weather statement 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.

A mixed bag of precipitation for Southern Ontario.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
==discussion==
A disturbance from the American Midwest will track just south of Lake
Erie this evening giving a variety of inclement weather to Southern
Ontario.

A light snowfall is expected north of a line from Central Lake Huron
to Toronto with a mixed bag of rain and snow to the south.
Over Extreme Southwestern Ontario showers and thunderstorms,
accompanied by small hail, will taper off this evening.

In the greater Toronto area wet snow is expected to develop early
this evening then end after midnight.  Northern portions of the
Toronto region can expect 2 to 4 cm, with little or no snow
accumulation expected over southern sections of the city.

Late this evening there will be the risk for some freezing rain in a
swath from Southern Lake Huron to Niagara, especially over higher
elevations.

Locally hazardous road conditions can be expected in the
precipitation this evening as temperatures fall to near
Or just below freezing in many locales. In addition, poor
visibilities can be expected in bursts of heavier snow.

You couldn't make this up! Currently just 3c in Hamilton, that's a full 24c lower than last week's high and cold enough for at least some mixed wintery precipation tonight for the City of Hamilton area and maybe some snow and treterous freezing rain across hillier parts of the area. Certainly a bigger risk of accumulating snow in and around T.O. particulary for areas N & E of the city.

While not unusual by any stretch to get snow in late March or indeed early April, after what went before it's a major switch and a shock to the system! Parts of Upstate NY & MI will actually seen snowsqualls and quite substantial accumulations in favoured spots from this system which is now just approaching Hamilton at this hour.

The weather appears from what i've read from family back in Ayrshire to be following a very similar trend back in Scotland, with incredible temps (record breaking) for parts of the country and now it's cooling down with perhaps some snow in the forecast for some next week.

After this system departs Ontario, it turns drier but still cold at just 8c thru Monday.

Tallyho, you questioned the difference between the snow falling and lying depth stats in my profile. Simple answer is that while there were quite a few (however still below the norm) days of snow actually falling from the sky, on just one period during the winter (from memory) in late January when we got consecutive snowfall events which brought that total to a pretty poor 14cm. All the other occasions as i'm sure you noticed, the snow that fell, lay for a day or two and melted before the rinse/repeat cycle started from scratch. 14cm compared to 71cm in one snowfall event in Feb 2007 is very low even by average which is around 40cm at some point in the winter season.

And finally, Graeme not long now to the Blue Jays kick off their 2012 campaign in the MLB and spring training being going well. Today the Jays signed a contract of sponsership with Baseball Canada and also gained some unexpected fans from another Toronto sports team! Don't know if you've been keeping an eye on the Leafs recently, but they've been a word that begins with S quite alot lately and last night was the final straw for some in a humilating 7-1 loss to Philly. During the game, Leafs fans began singing 'Let's go Blue Jays'!!! Laughter was heard loudly around the rink and this i think shows just how far gone the hockey francise has gone since those glory days in the 60s!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Ice Hockey still the one game close to my heart even though I haven't seen a live game for 20 years.

It used to be that one of the terrestial channels in the 80's would screen NHL matches late at night, I use to both watch them and tape them, I wore out those tapes, some featured Gretzky playing for both the Oilers and the Kings. The other player who sticks in the mind was Mario Lemieux playing for Pittsburgh. They also showed Stanley Cup Finals

Great times

Hello folks, this thread made it to page 4 on TWO so there's an indication on how exciting the weather has been for the majority of N America over the past 7 days, with exceptions as always.

Exceptions most notable was in the Dallas Fort Worth area where on Mon-Tue inclimant weather spawned one or two Tornado cells which caused a fair bit of damage to homes in that area. Golf ball sized hail also reported in many local TX communities.

Here in Southern Ontario, very benign for the most part following on from last Friday/Saturday's return to winter. We got a wee bit of snow in Dundas, enough to whiten the ground for a couple of hours or so, but nothing substantial although driving was tricky. That weather moved out and this week has been fairly calm and unspectacular as April came in, average temps and average sunshine values too.

Today, slightly below the average but climbing to +14c by Sunday with good sunny spells should feel pleasant enough even if it's not up there with the record setting values of 2 weeks back.

Long weekend off and looking forward to a brilliant Easter and maybe a barbiecue or two if possible. Whatever your upto, make it a great Easter weekend.

Indeed, work has kept me away from the thread this week, coupled with a quick dip back into winter for parts of Scotland midweek hogging my attention. Still no lying snow for me since Dec 2010 but it was nice to see a few flakes midweek.

Talking of winter it's still clinging on over parts of the Maritimes. Charlottetown, PEI under a snowfall warning for tonight with the possibility of 15cm or more, depending on the track of the storm. As the NA snow/ice map shows, http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_usa.gif Newfoundland is still in winter's grip too, not unusual as the sea ice normally impedes Spring's progress and May snow is not unusual on The Rock. However the weekend storm will bring some heavy rain to the likes of St John's and temps next week look decidedly milder. Note too the hook of snow cover from western Alberta and Montana through southern Saskatchewan from a storm on Thursday. Snowy morning again for parts of SK, including Regina: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Regina/webcams/latest

Nice anecdote re the Leafs, Stewart, and interesting to hear you used to be a hockey fan Richard. It was baseball I fell in love with during my time in Canada. Surprised you did not mention Thursday night's events, Stewart, as the Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians served up the longest opening day game in history - all 16 innings of it. I managed to watch the first 11 before having to hit the sack for work the next day, tremendous comeback in the top of the 9th. I do think that if the starting pitching holds up the Jays will be a force to be reckoned with this year - exciting times!

Enjoy the weekend!

Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, has broken its seasonal snowfall record, with 132.6 inches, or 336.8 centimeters. 

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/winter/story/2012-04-08/anchorage-snow-record/54110016/1

Hi folks, it's been a very quiet stale period of weather for us in Ontario over the past week, average sums it all up. Not an amazing amount of sunshine, some windy and cloud and the odd day with showery rain. The pattern continues into the weekend with unsettled conditions and more showers on both Sat & Sun and not overly warm either with temps between 9-13c across the board. No real sign at the minute of a return to those incredibly warm/hot early summerlike conditions we had in March.

Elsewhere, it's also been largely uneventful in the U.S. also. Parts of ME last weekend experienced a snowstorm of sorts which also brought unsettled wintry weather to the Canadian Maritimes. The weather however set for a turn to the worse again over the next 36hrs in parts of the Mid-Central U.S.

Over the past couple of days, Thunderstorms bringing severe hail to parts of TX have caused some disruption most notably to American Airlines, who at one point cancelled over 200 flights due to aircraft damage caused by the storms. These Thunderstorms will mix with more intense unstable air over KS, OK and other Tornado-Alley states to set course for an outbreak starting tomorrow. Some Tornado/Severe Weather experts and predictions i've seen call for a significant outbreak 4 or 5 on a scale 1-5, with 5 being exceptional.

One very good point to come out of all the significant Tornadic activity that has affected the states over the past 12 months is that there is even more accurate forecasting and more especially public awareness of such impending events which increases the chances of life preservation and property preparedness.

Good 3-1 win for the Blue Jays Graeme last night over the Red Sox, good positive start to the season on the whole for the ball club with a 4-2 record lying 2nd in the AL East. They are well and truely Toronto's favourite sports team right now for one reason or another!

Have a great weekend everyone.

In keeping with the Calgarian Spring, weather here has been up and down, particularly today.  We we're to expect 10-25mm of rain from a system coming up from the South, bringing enough warmth to keep it rain.  At least that's what the guys in Ottawa said.  And if it were in Ottawa, they probably would have been right.  Here, not so much.

What actually transpired started as a rain event, but temperatures dropped right down through the afternoon and became a very heavy snow event instead.  The heaviest I have seen all season, with snowflakes the size of side plates. 

Environment Canada, with all the accuracy of hindcasting has posthumously issued the following warning:

City of Calgary
8:41 PM MDT Thursday 12 April 2012
Snowfall warning for
City of Calgary issued

    10 cm of snow tonight.

An intense low pressure centre is tracking through Southeastern Alberta tonight and Friday bringing rain to portions of Central Alberta and heavy snow along the foothills. Precipitation fell predominantly as rain today in Southern Alberta with 20 to 25 mm reported by mid afternoon. As the system moves northward, 20 to 30 mm of rain is expected over Central Alberta tonight and Friday.

Rain changed to heavy snow earlier than expected in the Airdrie and Calgary regions. By the time the snow ends overnight, local accumulations of up to 25 cm of snow is expected. Heaviest snow within the Calgary region will fall over higher elevations in the western sections of the city. Snow will begin to taper off later this evening in Calgary.

In the Banff region, heavy snow has fallen over the mountain passes but the town site continues to rain. Rain will change to snow in Banff this evening and 10 cm is forecast by Friday morning. Mountain passes could receive a total of 25 cm by Friday.

In the Jasper and Kananaskis regions heavy snow is forecast over the higher elevations with a total of 10 to 15 cm of snow expected by Friday morning. In the townsites, rain will change to snow this evening giving 5 to 10 cm of snow.

Snow levels will lower in the Nordegg region bringing 10 to 20 cm of heavy snow tonight. Within the Rocky Mountain House region snowfall amounts will vary based on elevation with accumulations potentially reaching 10 to 15 cm by Friday evening. Snow will taper off Friday night as the low weakens and moves into Saskatchewan.

Notice the highlighted bit.  By "earlier than expected" they meant earlier than Friday evening (24 hours away), which is when the first flakes were supposed to fall.  Nice bit of misdirection. Though, to be fair, it's not often that it snows here and rains up in Banff.  It does go to show that cold air sinks!

Anyway, we are fully white, under 3-4" of snow.  Don't expect it to last - the sun and temps tomorrow will put it to bed.  All moisture welcomed though, we need it for sure.  And we have been getting it more too - there's been a few moderate snow events over the last few weeks - nothing that lasted but all good wet stuff.

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: 24
Days with snow falling: 43
Days with snow lying: 99
Maximum snow depth: 6" (15cm)
Current snow depth 4" (10cm)

Fascinating weather over Ontario today: bit of a classic spring temperature gradient. For example it's +25c in Toronto right now but -5c in Thunder Bay. Zooming in, it's currently -3c in Timmins and +18c in Sudbury. They're about 135 miles apart as the crow flies.