After weeks of dirty grass without any snow cover, we are now finally into the stage where the snow will stick around. By stick around, I mean stay until spring. We saw a surprise snowfall on Thursday, Nov. 19. The morning commute to school and work was sloppy and messy. Buses were delayed and the roads were slick with numerous collisions.
After this first round, we saw a second round of snow coat the city earlier this week. Your start to the work week started off with accumulating snow and a gusty east wind. A strong system with a tight pressure gradient pushed into our region and brought in a few centimetres of snow. This stuck around by the time the snow stopped falling. The temperature drop was also noticeable. Average highs are now near minus 5 C. Temperatures fell in reverse at the start of this week as cold air rushed in.
It all started with an east wind in advance of the low on Monday. Here we saw the upper warm front push across. In advance of the front we got an east wind rushing out of the Arctic high. Once the system started to pass, we got onto the other side of it. Here, winds came out of the north and northwest. Morning temperatures plummeted substantially. Computer models gave us a good idea of how much snow would fall. This was predictable and with the help of model guidance we were able to determine where the snow would fall.
Temperatures will stay below zero this week. This means that the snow will be sticking around. Mornings will be frigid so bundle up on your way to school. While the outlook for precipitation looks dry in the coming days, it will only be a matter of time before we get another large dump of snow. We are at the end of November and the December solstice is fast approaching. This solstice means the shortest daylight hours out of the entire year.
Did you know?
Today we will cover measurement of precipitation. Forecasters measure rainfall in millimetres and snowfall in centimetres. Very rarely will we say that there was 10 mm of snow on the ground or three centimetres of rain. Instead, we would say 10 cm of snow and three millimetres of rain. Did you know that there were specified units of measurement per precipitation type? Now you know something new! Full weather forecast coming up again in next week’s Nugget. Until then, drive safe and dress for the elements!
Brandon Hess
Meteorologist in Training
