Weather for Whitehorse YT, when the average is -19c.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/canada/yukon/whitehorse

Yet down in NY it's some 20c colder at -9C today and how much further south is NY!!

Even Texas is getting in on the Winter act tonight. Winter Storm Warning for Houston with sleet/ice/snow down to Galveston Island. Impressive. The first time they've had a warning since 2011. Highs tomorrow of around 2C in Houston. After visiting in summer in near 40C heat..its kinda hard to imagine.

Right then....how about all of us here in the UK to head to near the Gulf of Mexico or Coastal Texas for winter! All we can do to manage one frosty morning let alone snow/winter storm!

Following on from that South Coast theme, it actually snowed in parts of Central Louisiana last night! I could be wrong on this, but i doubt they will even have a winter weather clearing programme never mind equipment! What's the snakes and alligators gonna think?

Not often in any winter that i've experienced in Southern Ontario that you see a run of forecasts like this for Hamilton :

We missed out on the snow on Wednesday night as it staying just off the shore and into parts of Stoney Creek down to St.Catharine's and despite EC putting out an advisory even here, it wasn't much to ride home about. Gutted for you Jiries that you didn't see a major snowevent while in T.O. but you have witnessed and been apart of, despite a thaw last weekend, the coldest January in Toronto for a good few years, going back to the 90s.

Snow and for around here windy on tap for the next 24hrs, could get 4 inches or thereabouts. Still very cold as you can see also, just an exceptional spell of weather.

As for the boring debate as to whether snow annoys you or not or rain in the UK likewise. It can get annoying and frustrating if ur not prepared around here for winter and i know some folk this year who are feeling like this, because in every winter i've had here we've had 4-6 wks of Scottish weather with the odd snowevent thrown in. This winter has been unreal for the level, depth and lasting nature of any snow/ice, but its Canada, it i guess should be like this would be my take on it. Far more stable and varied climate of course back in the UK, but maybe not as extreme and thus i'd say over here is far more interesting than back home, where it's usually rain, warm rain or cold rain!

Take Care folks and have a great weekend

Doubt if in temperatures like that here,many would be unprepared and not survive very long.. So unaccustomed to extremes...

So Houston managed some snow and plenty of freezing rain. North of Houston they had an inch of snow. Lots of icy roads in Gulf Texas, mainly due to the lack of equipment to deal with winter weather, hence I guess the warning. For some it would be pitiful amounts, but its just in the afternoon there managed to reach freezing point. 

Hello again, been off the grid for the past month or so, just catching up. Yes, there has been quite a lot of weather here, but we're over the worst of it.  December was crazy snowy for Calgary, and I recorded the deepest lying snow since I first got here in 2003.

Which is all good, apart from the bit where the cars get stuck in snowbanks - it happened to us a number of times.  Fortunately January has generally brought warmer and drier weather, so we're now able to navigate the city again.  And apart from a blip over Sunday with an inch or so of snow, it looks like staying on the 'mild' side for the forseeable future.

As for the discussion of who has the better weather that's been going on, it really comes down to what you're used to.  I used to love the snow when I first come here, still like it somewhat, but when it's here 1/3 of the year, there's nothing too special about it.  And the funny thing is, when you don't see a raindrop between November and March, you can kind of miss a bit of the wet stuff.  That said, I think I will take the sunny winter days here over rain, wind and grey.

Peter

July 2013 - June 2014 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 32.8c 02/07/12
Coldest Temperature: -30.1c 07/12/13
Days with thunderstorms: 7
Days with rain falling: 35
Days with snow falling: 28
Days with snow lying: 88
Maximum snow depth: 12" (30cm)
Current snow depth 4" (12cm)

Definitely a winter of two halfs thus far Peter, January mean in Calgary temp coming in at -1.8c to date, December mean was -9.5c!

Was looking at the coldest Januarys at Toronto Pearson in the last twenty years or so (mean temps):

1994 -12.4c
2004 -9.4c
2009 -8.8c
2003 -8.3c
2014 -8.2c [to 25th]

Obviously January 1994 was off the charts cold, no way that will be reached but the mean temp is likely to drop further with plenty of arctic air to close out the month. This could end up being the coldest January since the infamous January of 1994 (when -31c was recorded at Pearson). One to watch...

Meanwhile the extraordinary warmth continues out west. Crazy reading from yesterday: Fort Nelson, BC +14.9c. The mild weather is playing havoc in Whitehorse: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/whitehorse-road-crews-race-to-clear-snow-months-early-1.2510734 

So the Deep South and Gulf Coast are due an even bigger winter storm event tomorrow. Second winter warning in five days...in Houston the last Winter Storm Warning prior to this week was 2011. Theres talk of around 6-7 inches...even settling to ground level. Be an interesting watch for those in the area plus north Florida.

Hello folks, we are just about to exit the ice age here in Ontario after a few days of super low temps again. Last night down to -18c here in Dundas, w/c values on both Mon and Tuesday were both over the EC warning level of -30c, just brutal. Some snow too, nothing major and caused more probs with blowing snow. Some parts of the GTA had drifting snow also and a snowsquall today near Napenee, ON caused a massive pile-up on the 401. Schools also have closed or canx buses this week due to the extreme cold, something i know happened during the first polar vortex visit in early Jan, but this time more widespread across the Hamilton Public School Board region too.

Here's a pic from space of Lake Erie being completely frozen and Lake Ontario partically covered :

Going forward, getting slightly less cold with some snow around later tomorrow, again nothing big. The main story comes at the weekend when on Sat the temp might just touch 0c but with it a storm which will bring snow and the outside chance of some rain/freezing rain too. Again, track of the storm will dictate whether amounts are significant or whether they are lighter due to the mixing with rain across the Lakeshore.

Further ahead into next week a bigger storm is brewing. At the minute the models have a weather 'bomb' of sorts hitting the NE coast of the states and Atlantic Canada giving a significant and newsworthy storm. History says that these ones could trcak further West which would give us a better chance of seeing a big GTA storm.

In the states, chaos in Atlanta, GA yesterday as 2.3" of snow fell causing major traffic problems and disruption. Ive seen pics of people sleeping in supermarkets down there, complete nuts. Snow fell also in Louisiana again! 

Some winter folks!

We got winter back!  A couple of inches of snow yesterday, and now highs in the mid minus teens for the forseeable future .  Sunny though, so there is that.  Nothing record breaking, but certainly chilly enough after last week's "is winter over" moment.  ;-)

Peter

July 2013 - June 2014 Stats
Elevation: 1084m
Latitude: 51° 6' N
Warmest Temperature: 32.8c 02/07/12
Coldest Temperature: -30.1c 07/12/13
Days with thunderstorms: 7
Days with rain falling: 35
Days with snow falling: 29
Days with snow lying: 84
Maximum snow depth: 12" (30cm)
Current snow depth 4" (12cm)

You certainly did Peter, it's been a rollercoaster ride of a winter for you!

Meanwhile just waiting for the final January figures for Toronto. Looks like the meant temp for January will be around the same as 2009, so not as cold as 2004 or 1994 but third coldest in the last twenty plus years.

Winter continues with the change in month...winter storm affecting southern Ontario today. Looks like Hamilton and Toronto will see a change to rain, albeit briefly, which will keep snowfall amounts in the 5-10cm range while areas to the north get 15cm+. Here's Brett's take on the storm: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/anderson/update-on-incoming-snowstorm-for-the-east/22768272 Then it's back to cold with more storm potential on the horizon!

Damn it, the relatively mild last day of January (Toronto cracked 0c with a high of +0.2c) meant the mean temp for the month was raised a bit: http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climateData/dailydata_e.html?StationID=51459

So, here's how January 2014 rates in terms of coldest mean January temps at Toronto Pearson since 1980:

1994 -12.4c
1981 -10.2c
1982 -10.1c
1984 -9.7c
2004 -9.4c
2009 -8.8c
2014 -8.6c
1985 -8.4c
2003 -8.3c

For reference 2006 was the mildest January in the sequence with a balmy mean of +0.2c. Average January mean is -6.2c (1971-2000 figures).

It's a hard life!

As I squelched through ankle deep mud along the footpaths around my village this morning I was reflecting on the difference in winter experience documented here!

Thanks for the report Tim, enjoy your holiday and keep us posted. Lovely part of the world. I especially liked the Charlevoix region.

Storm just getting going in the Golden Horseshoe: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/compass/camera/camhome1.shtml 

Hi folks,

Yes as Graeme reports another snowstorm for the GTA after the fridgid weather of the past week, we now have 5-10cm of snow to take care of. Road conditions starting to detoriate. I know i keep saying it but its been some winter, the snowiest i can ever remember from my past 8 years and certainly the coldest. I'm sure if you dug deep enough you'd still find Ice under the snow from the Ice Storm pre-xmasthat's how long our cold has gone on.

Can't believe Jan mean is -6 in Toronto! Never felt it that cold generally, maybe we don't notice in a normal winter, lol

This storm has a warm front going through it so the snow is changing to Freezing Rain down in Windsor at this hour and all rain on the shores of Lake Erie. This change is expected in the Golden Horseshoe through the afternoon early evening and this will cut the snow totals down from the 15cm+ that Cottage Country and parts of the 400 will see with this system.

Cold and snow early tomorrow clearing to 48hrs of below 0c temps before round two as TWN are calling it arrives late Tuesday. This system could be a bigger event for all, again track dependant but right now most of the GTA looks like having a moisture laden snowevent. I will update as things go along.

As for Peter, nice to see you returning to winter out there. The Jetstreams shift south to initiate these storms and the potential for a stormier Feb has seen all of Canada return to winterlike temps, even Vancouver!

Have a great weekend everyone 

Sounds absolutely superb

Hey folks,

Hi Darren, Sarnia likely to be hot and humid in August. If you like storms then that's the place they usually generate from off Lake Michigan before going through the rest of the state. They do well, much better actually than the GTA during the winter also with snow again because of its proximity to the lake, with lake effect.

As for Dundas, 8.4cm of snow in total yesterday, up at Pearson they had 11cm. We did have rain for 3-4hrs last evening and this impacted on our total as well as lying snow, still this morning around 20cm in total out our front yard and piles and piles of snowbanks across the neighbourhood still.

Snow for Tuesday night and Wednesday still looks on, it's just a question of how much. Models are all over the shop with this one, anything from light snows -5cm etc to a nion blizzard on the table, hopefully they will firm up once the first low which will bring snow to NYC after the Superbowl tonight goes through. This storm expected to give the big apple 3-6" by Monday afternoon.

One final thing to say is - GO SEAHAWKS!!