Thursday 23 January 2014

Parade of Systems Continues

     The same old weather pattern continues for the next few days with many opportunities for snowfall, blowing snow and frigid temperatures.

     The pattern has been incredibly consistent for several weeks now with a very deep trough in the jet stream in eastern North America and a very large ridge over the western continent. This can be seen in the image directly below: (Manitoba is highlighted in yellow) (this is a map from yesterday evening and is by ENVIRONMENT CANADA)

Approximate location of jet stream yesterday evening. Manitoba is highlighted in yellow. Highly amplified jet stream.

     This highly amplified jet stream has been bringing some interesting anomalies. Parts of the Yukon is warmer than Florida this morning. Haines Junction Yukon was sitting at 13°C at 6 am local time this morning which was warmer than Orlando Florida's 7°C.

     This pattern has maintained a northerly-northwesterly flow over Manitoba lately and has put us in a prime position for many clipper systems.

     Another round of snow is expected tonight. However, this is actually associated with a system all the way up in Hudson Bay. A general 3-5 cm is expected in the Winnipeg area, with highest amounts most likely to our east. The biggest story will be the wind with blowing snow expected this evening.

     Some more snow is expected again tomorrow, albeit lighter with a couple cm not out of the question. Strong winds in the afternoon will create blowing snow in open areas again.

     A clipper system is then expected on Saturday night with another 2-5 cm not out of the question. However, this will depend on the exact track of the system. Very strong winds on Sunday will likely create another blowing snow situation.

     At this point, a very cold start to the work week is expected next week and there is still no sign of a prolonged period of above normal temperatures. The general ups and downs are expected to continue.

6 comments:

  1. By the way, a high of 9.3°C in Whitehorse today was an all-time January high, breaking the old record of 9.0°C in 1977.

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  2. Hey JJ, i plan on getting my blog back on the go and working. any chance you could add me back to the list?

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  3. Unfortunately, although by the end of next week the ridge on the west coast is expected to move to the west, this big trough in eastern North America is expected to simply move west as well. We'll likely remain in the cold weather as a result. No significant warmup is expected in the next 2 weeks with sustained cold weather expected.

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  4. Blizzard conditions expected tomorrow as winds strengthen significantly out of the north at around 50 gusting to 60-70 km/h. I'm definitely expecting some warnings to be issued later. Not much snow is expected for the Winnipeg area with perhaps 2-4 cm, but that wind will be the big story. Temperatures will plummet to the mid -20's by tomorrow afternoon.

    By the way, I've received 100.9 cm of snow so far this winter (since November). This is compared to 107.8 cm by this time last winter. Snow depth currently 38 cm compared to 41 cm this day last year. Drifting has been the main story this winter; drifts currently in my yard about 10-15 cm deeper than this time last year.

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  5. Sadly, there is no light at the tunnel right now in the long range with consistent cold weather for at least the next 2 weeks at minimum.

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  6. The cold is taking another dive way to the south in the next few days with accumulating snow expected along the Gulf Coast, including New Orleans mid week. Certainly not the time to be taking a vacation down there! They haven't had any major accumulations of snow since 2008. There is even a chance for some snow in northern Florida. Not unheard of, but certainly not a yearly occurence.
    Down in Texas, Corpus Christi on the Gulf coast even has a chance for snow this week, and daytime highs expected to be in the low to mid single digits Tuesday-Wednesday, over 10°C below normal and colder than their normal overnight low.

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