Saturday, December 12, 2009

You want snow?!

For those of us starving for snow, take a look at some of the photos coming out of the Muskoka area in Ontario. Some extremely heavy lake effect snowsqualls off Georgian Bay over the past 2 days have left 100-150 cm of snow in some communities! Click on the photo for some amazing video out of MacTier.. south of Parry Sound. (photos and video posted to The Weather Network)

28 comments:

  1. Speaking of that area, in Parry Sound Harbour, it says the wind is 200 km/h at 11AM EST this morning. I'm certain that's a mistake, right?

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  2. i'm gonna make my own post about it

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  3. Rob!

    On Environments radar they show the bar that goes from 0.1 cm to 20 cm of snow per hour!

    Would it actually be possible to get 20 cm of snow/hour or did think Environment Canada just picked a random number????

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  4. The best video of the bunch is when that person is walking in the waist high snow with the dog enjoying the snow!!!

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  5. That value of 20 cm/hr is correlated to the strength of the radar signal return (measured in dBz values on the right) It's a theoretical value based on radar correlation equations.

    The heaviest snowfall rates in the most intense snowsqualls sometimes reach 10-15 cm/hr. Oswego NY on the eastern end of Lake Ontario holds the world record for heaviest 1 hr snowfall.. 9.1" (23 cm) in 1 hour. That's about as extreme a snowfall rate as you could ever get..

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  6. The snowiest Winnipeg day, record Windchill, and the lowest temperature may have occurred the same year in a span of 2 months.

    Jan 7 1966 -40.4C winds to 43Km

    Feb 18 -45.0C winds were calm that morning

    Mar 4 -13.3C winds to 113KM with 35.6cm of snow w/ Drifts to 8 Meters

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  7. Thanks for all those stats JIM!

    Thinking about it Winnipeg has not had a "BIG" storm for many years now!!

    Like....When was the last time Winnipeg has had a 25 + cm snow event????

    hmmmm.......

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  8. April 1996 perhaps Interesting how the cold and snow and spring events are linked

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  9. The last time we've had a 25cm+ snow event probably was that big snow storm of dec 30/31 2006. 32 cm at the airport.

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  10. The forecast for tonight is looking very cold !!!

    I'm really surprised Environment Canada is going for -35 for Winnipeg!!!

    This arctic front means business!!!!!!

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  11. Dan If there's a Storm event before each RRV Flood there would be one for 08/09 and 06/07 as well.

    You might recall last Feb was a combined Rain and Snow event as was 97. Although I wasn't here for the 06/07 event it still managed to strand everyone driving southwest on Hwy 75 and I 29 on Dec 30/31.
    March 66 and April 97 stand out because of the controversy over which was the storm of the century. 96 and or 97 was the year of cumulative snow records

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  12. Tomorrow morning's forecast low is a tricky one. Its all a question of how soon the lite winds and temperature inversion under arctic ridge build in. Glancing at some of the models (NAM and RUC), they depict 10 knots at the surface and 15 knots at 925 hPa by dawn over us. This seems enough to keep the lowest levels of the atmosphere stirred up... coupled with our anemic snowcover (which will not radiate particularly well), I think the projected low of -35 C is too low. I think -30 to possibly -32 C at notorious cold pockets like YWG is reasonable.

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  13. Yeah Daniel, that -35C may be a tad too low for Winnipeg. In addition to the wind and low snow cover, I think the MB lakes are modifying that airmass somewhat as well.. even though they are ice covered, it's new thin ice.. so there's likely some moderation going on in the low levels, at least for areas downwind of the lakes. You can see some evidence of that by animating the enhanced IR satellite imagery. Coldest spots should again be closer to the SK border.

    No modification out in Alberta.. down to -43C at Edmonton International! Yikes!

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  14. -46 C at Edmonton International!!!

    Unreal is that cold.....

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  15. I'm not sure if I prefer the inconveniences of 75cm of snow in My Muskoka or your cold temperatures!!!

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  16. Great site Jennifer.. thanks for the link! I'd rather have the 100 cm of snow.. -30C is boring!! Good luck digging out!

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  17. That -46C at Edmonton International is a new record low for December.. (previous was -44.5C) and close to their all time record low of -48C in January 1972. Crazy cold..

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  18. Not sure where the CTV SkyWatch forecast graphic is getting their temperatures from, but that low of -40C tonight and high of -37 tomorrow are obviously incorrect.

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  19. That was a very good example of the
    "urban heat effect"

    How much colder Edmonton International was than City Center Airport!

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  20. Rob!

    Looks like we finally might get some accumulating snowfall on Wednesday night into Thursday

    Still a few days away but it looks like our best chance next week!!!

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  21. It was cold in Silver Heights, Winnipeg this morning, but it wasn't the -35C that was forecast - thank goodness. It bottomed out at -28.4C, and my wind chill never went below -36. My winds are never as strong as CYWG, so my wind chills are always warmer. I have noticed that measuring temps in a residential area is making quite a difference on my overnight low values as compared to the airport. My overnight lows are often 2 or more degrees warmer than CYWG. I have double-checked my Davis against an AES mercury thermometer, and it confirms that it really is warmer in my backyard. Having nearby houses radiating heat, and my station is not down in a depression like CYWG is, really makes a difference.

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  22. Daniel P, I hope your rght I'd rather have some good snow right now then these crazy temperatures.

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  23. The mean temperature so far this month is -15.6 C

    That is quite cold but still some way to go for the coldest December on record!!!

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  24. Good point Rob about heat trnasfer thru the newly formed lake ice...

    I think tonite's overnite low is once again too low. Forecast is for clear skies and -31 C. However significant cloud cover is about to advect in it appears. My guess is that for Winnipeg and points SE, tmeperatures will stop falling shortly...

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  25. Rob!

    In terms of a El NINO year is it quite normal to get bouts of very cold weather like this????

    I thought November was showing the weather pattern for the winter with the constant pacific warm air from the west!!!

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  26. Daniel..

    Generally, stronger El Nino events will bring milder winters to the Prairies. But cold weather can and does still occur in El Nino years, longer in some years than others. The problem is that it's not only El Nino that affects us.. it's other climatic influences like the Arctic Oscillation (AO) that can counteract El Nino and bring prolonged periods of below normal temperatures (the AO index has become strongly negative this month which tends to correlate with Arctic outbreaks) These and other climatic influences (like MJO, NAO) have various life cycles and are always battling or phasing with each other to bring about spells of below or above normal temperatures, depending on which climatic influence is dominating at the time. Generally, a stonger El Nino will dominate these other climatic oscillations, especially over western North America.. but it's not always a given.

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  27. Mark Ewens of NOAA discussed these influences in the Preliminary Local Winter Outlook for NorthEastern ND and Northwestern Minnesota. Click on my name

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