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 temperaturesWill cool slightly on Monday, balmy conditions will return onTuesday and continue through the remainder of the week.-------------------------------------------------------------Location temperature record previous recordToronto 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!
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.
Edited by user 15 March 2012 23:18:25(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
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 StatsElevation: 1084mLatitude: 51° 6' NWarmest Temperature: 30.4c 29/08/11Coldest Temperature: -32.4c 18/01/12Days with thunderstorms: 4Days with rain falling: 21Days with snow falling: 33Days with snow lying: 91Maximum snow depth: 6" (15cm)Current snow depth 0" (0cm)
Edited by user 16 March 2012 18:19:05(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
We're pretty warm in Calgary too, but nothing like those temp swings.
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, combinedWith 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 recordLondon 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.