First SNOW

Photos of the first accumulating snow of the season
this morning on the West Island of Montreal.

As expected weak low pressure moved across the area overnight and the light rain changed to light snow at around 1am in Montreal. As of 8am about 2cm had accumulated locally with another 1cm or so expected. Roads are slick in spots especially in your own neighborhood, with numerous accidents reported. SLOW DOWN. The snow should end by noon with clearing skies and dropping temperatures to a low of -5C tonight. The balance of the week will be unsettled with another major storm on Thursday. That system will bring rain to the valley but heavy wet snow is possible northwest of Montreal. We will have to nail down the track of the system as each successive computer run is bringing more of a western tack through the region which would mean rain not snow for Montreal. More later today on that system.

137 mph winds!

Well it appears winter is upon us. OK my headline caught your attention. First off the move is complete and I am now back among the cyber living with a new Videotron Cable internet connection and in a new home southwest of Montreal about 50km from the downtown.

Now the winter thingy...that storm on Friday that bombed out moving up the east coast, produced some impressive snowfalls east and south of Montreal. Here in the city not even a flake. We had 15mm or so of rain and gusty winds close to 50km/h at times or about 30mph. Well compare that to Mt. Mansfield where 20 inches of snow fell and winds topped out in the 50mph range. Not enough yet, how about Mt. Washington. They recorded there strongest wind of 2009 with and incredible & unbelievable gust to just over 137mph. (use the link on left to read the observers comments). Combine that with sub zero cold wind chills and nearly 25 inches of snow and you can see it was a storm to be reckoned with.

We are going to see a transition in the weather pattern this week with winter beginning to settle in. It has been a warm November, but as the month draws to a close several fronts and low pressure this week should bring us our first accumulating snow. Tonight showers will develop and change to snow by morning from Ottawa across the Laurentians and into Montreal. A few centimetres may fall north of the city. An even better change of snow will come Thursday as low pressure moves up the Atlantic Coast. Cold air will be established over the St. Lawrence Valley, and snow is expected. How much? Too soon to tell, but be ready for winter weather this week. I will update this situation later today.

By the way today is the Grey Cup in Calgary. The forecast is expected to be ideal for football, partly cloudy and 8C.
GO ALS GO!

GREY CUP CENTRAL

Weekend snow

First off Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends. Secondly, the move is nearly complete, however thanks to Bell once again, our phone service is delayed. This means no computer connection at the moment from home.

Traditionally this is the time of the year where we begin to see our first accumulating snows in our region. This will be the case this weekend for many portions of Ontario, Quebec, New York and New England. Low pressure developing off the US east coast will move north towards the Maratimes. Steady rain will develop today in most areas with a gusty and chilly northeast wind. Tonight as the temperature lowers the rain will change to wet snow northeast of Quebec City and across the higher elevations of the Townships, Greens and Adirondacks. Look for between 15-25cm of wet snow to accumulate at the highest elevations. Additionally there will be gusty northwest winds developing on the back side of the system. These winds will exceed 50km/h and produce blowing snow. Environment Canada has posted a Heavy Snow Warning for the Townships while a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for the Dacks and Greens.

In the lee of Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, a round of lake effect snow is possible late Friday into Saturday. In Montreal a cold rain today will taper off to a few flurries Saturday with a gusty Northwest wind of up to 60km/h.

If you are travelling south today for the US holiday or Black Friday, keep in mind that travel will become poor on many roadways across Vermont, New York and southern Quebec. The low pressure is expected to bomb out (rapidly intensify) near Portland, Maine tonight and move into Atlantic Canada with very strong winds and heavy precipitation.

Week of transition

It was a busy weekend as valleyweather moves from the south shore of Montreal to the just off the western tip of the Island of Montreal about 50km to the west. It will take a few days to get things properly up and running so the blog entries may be a little small.

This truly is a week of transition both personally and in the weather. The week will start off sunny and mild, although this "dirty" high pressure system continues to allow for low clouds and fog to form in the past 24 hours, this should burn off shortly. Temperatures continue well above normal for November, close to 8C. By Wednesday the first in a series of low pressure areas will begin to affect the region. Showers are expected from Wednesday into the US Thanksgiving holiday. By Thursday low pressure organizing along the Carolina coast will move north towards Long Island. Precipitation in the form of rain will spread inland from south to north across Vermont and New York and into Quebec and Ontario. At first rain is expected, but as cold air moves into the region from the north, we expect the rain to mix with and change to snow Friday night. It is very early in the forecast period, but be advised that colder weather and some snow is in the extended forecast. More on this later in the week.

Weekend Forecast

An active but fairly weak weather pattern is upon us this Friday morning. A frontal system has produced some rain and drizzle this morning in Montreal. This will slowly taper to showers for the balance of the day. Strong southwest winds will develop along and ahead of the associated cold front and will produce gusts up to 70km/h in the St. Lawrence Valley by noon. Skies will remain cloudy tonight and most of Saturday before high pressure gives us a clear and cool night Saturday. Sunday at this time looks sunny before another system moves of the Atlantic Coast. Temperatures this weekend will be near normal with highs near 5 or 6C and lows just below freezing. Any fog that forms Saturday night could freeze on surfaces, keep this in mind when driving. This week, ice fog in Montreal resulted in several serious accidents. SLOW DOWN!
The system that is currently taking shape along the Gulf Coast will be another decent storm for the eastern seaboard. At this time the system is forecast to move along the gulf this weekend and up the east coast of the U.S. on Monday. Montreal will remain on the extreme western flank of the precipitation. From 1-3 inches of rain is expected along the track with gusty winds and high surf, but nowhere near as bad as Ida was last week. However keep in mind that tremendous damage was done to the dunes and beaches, and any high surf is causing problems in the Carolina's north to New Jersey, especially the Outer Banks.

More information on this storm over the weekend. Be safe.

Slippery commute

The fog rolls in just after sunrise this morning along the Lakeshore in Montreal. The conditions made roads very slippery.

A little taste of winter this morning along the St. Lawrence Valley here in Montreal. After a brilliant sunrise just before 7am, the temperature lowered to dew point temperature and dense fog began to rapidly form along the riverfront. The fog spread across the region and deposited a thin layer of moisture that froze on contact with bridges and overpasses. The result was several serious accidents and a very slow commute in the Montreal region. At 6am this morning Trudeau Airport reported 24km visibility with clear skies. As of 9am we were down to 0.8km visibility with ice fog being recorded by the observer. Roads, especially elevated surfaces, remain slippery. Caution is advised this morning while traveling until about noon when the sun will burn off the fog.

Rare November weather

Out of the fog: The tropical air mass from the east coast storm produced high dew points and plenty of fog in Montreal this past weekend. The photo is of the St. Lawrence Seaway early Sunday.

Strong high pressure is dominating the weather in southern Quebec and eastern Ontario this week with abundant sunshine in what should be the cloudiest month of the year. Temperatures will be near normal, 6C during the day and just below freezing at night. The next chance of rain will come by Friday.

Yesterday we had some wild weather across the middle portion of the continent. While it was snowing heavily in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, northern Alberta had record highs. Portions of northeast Kansas had nearly a foot of snow with 8 inches in Denver. Meanwhile Edmonton shattered their record high, reaching 14C breaking the previous high of 10.9C set in 2001. There were several other record highs in northern Alberta as well.

Rainy Saturday

Clouds are rapidly thickening up as the moisture shield from the remains of Ida nudges across northern New England and into southern Quebec this morning. The main wind has remained along the immediate coast from Maryland north to Maine with just a northeast wind up to 20km/h in Montreal. Gusts to 45mph are possible along the immediate coast. Inland the rain may accumulate from 15-25mm (1 inch) locally and taper to showers tonight. The center of the storm has moved east off the coast of North Carolina, and is well removed from the moisture. The surf is slowly subsiding along the coast, but not after producing record damage in some locations.

Bill left me a comment below directing me to an incredible site with awesome pictures of the recent storm damage on Hatteras Island in the Village of Rodanthe. The subject of many of the photos is a home named Serendipity which was the main star in the film Nights in Rodanthe. I have taken numerous pictures of the house myself and walked that very beach several years in a row. None of my photos come close to these amazing pictures that Bryan Elkus has taken.

Have a look here http://www.bryanelkus.com/

Coastal storm stays south

Above: The cloud deck from the coastal storm and smog along with a thick frost along the South Shore of Montreal this morning. Below: The remains of Ida form a big coastal storm off the mid-Atlantic coast.

The big east coast storm that continues to batter the region from the Carolina's north to New Jersey will begin edging towards our region today. Already sat photos are showing the cloud deck moving into southern Quebec. Clouds will continue to lower over the next 24 hours before rain moves in Saturday. Montreal will remain on the western edge of the storm and therefore we are only expecting light rain.This is not the story along coastal areas where heavy rain and strong winds have produced serious flooding and damage. Thousands are without power in Virginia and North Carolina. The Outer Banks have been hammered by successive high tides producing major flooding. NC 12 is closed on Hatteras Island from Oregon Inlet to Rodanthe. It may reopen later today as the storm slowly moves north. Storm warnings and coastal flood warnings are now posted as far north as Cape Cod. Heavy rain will overspread New England tonight. In Norfolk major flooding has occurred along the coast, and power is out as winds gusted to near hurricane strength yesterday.

Coastal Storm Update

North Carolina 12, in the center of the picture, is washed over with sand and surf while the mighty Atlantic is on the right. This image is looking north from the Village of Rodanthe on the Outer Banks at 8:12 this morning.

The remains of Ida combined with high pressure over Quebec continues to produce a significant wind and water event for the mid Atlantic coast from Long Island south to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Web cams this morning are showing a fierce Atlantic Ocean rising up and in some cases over the dunes producing severe flooding, especially along the Outer Banks and in Virginia Beach. The still shot above is from the web cam looking north from the Village of Rodanthe, a place I know very well. Hatteras Island is narrow at this location and subject to ocean overwash. Winds in the region are gusting from the northeast to 60mph and many regions have reported 3 to 6 inches of rain. Numerous warnings for flash flooding, high surf, high winds and coastal surge remain in effect from New York City to South Carolina and inland up the Chesapeake Bay towards Washington.

The northern extent of the precipitation is into New Jersey while the extreme edge of the cloud shield made for a brilliant sunrise in Montreal today. It appears this system will stay south of Quebec and northern New England for now.

Remains of Ida pounding Mid-Atlantic

The combination of the remains of Hurricane Ida, a frontal system and low pressure north of the Bahamas are expected to produce a long period of heavy rain, wind and high surf from North Carolina to New Jersey. Flash Flood Warnings are in effect for the Carolina's, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland. Coastal flooding is expected along the Outer Banks tonight through Friday afternoon. Ocean over wash is possible along NC12, and it could become impassable. Flooding is expected to be as bad as with Hurricane Isabel in 2003 in many areas of Tidewater of Virginia and Chesapeake. Storm force winds are already blowing along the coast with gusts over 40mph at the Bay Bridge. More information on this story can be found here at The Virginia Pilot Online.

Remembrance Day

Please take time to remember today.

The weather will be ideal for most parts of the country this November 11. Temperatures are close to normal here in Montreal and Eastern Ontario (plus 7 to 10C). It will be sunny and dry. The evenings will be seasonable with lows below freezing (0C to -4C). The next chance for rain will come this weekend. There is not much certainty at this time with the weekend forecast as we wait to see what the remains of Hurricane Ida do.

Ida moved inland along the Alabama coast yesterday with high surf and very heavy rains. The rainfall amounts will be excessive in the 4 to 8 inch range (so far almost 6 inches of rain have been reported in Alabama and the Florida panhandle). As the system moves off the southeast coast it is expected to become a very intense coastal storm with strong winds and destructive tides along the coast from Georgia northward to the middle Atlantic and especially the Carolina's. Numerous warnings are in place for coastal flooding and storm surge. NWS radar this morning is showing very heavy rain in the Carolina's and showers from the system as far north as New York City. High pressure over our area combined with Ida will produce a strong onshore flow along the Atlantic Coast along with strong storm force winds. Coastal damage is expected.

The Florida Coast yesterday as Ida moved inland with primarily flooding. AP Photo

Indian Summer

Indian Summer, is when the weather is sunny and warm, and above normal, usually 21°c (70°F), and all of the leaves of the trees have turned but before the first snow has fallen. A true Indian summer occurs after the first frost, generally a killing frost, of the season.

It really looked like this would be the year not only without a summer, but also without an Indian Summer, but I believe we qualify for this today. The temperature has reached 18C so far at the airport in Montreal (close enough), warmer downtown, and 21C at St. Anicet and along the US border in Champlain, NY. What a glorious day with plenty of sunshine. Enjoy!

Hurricane Ida

Ida this morning in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Mississippi Coast. (NWS Photo)

It is fitting that post number 800 for Valley Weather will be about a Hurricane...

Hurricane Warnings are in effect for the US Gulf Coast from Mississippi over to the Florida panhandle, while a Tropical Storm Warning is posted for the Louisiana coast including New Orleans. This morning Hurricane Ida is located about 235 miles SSE of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving NNW at 16mph. The storm has lost some strength and is now back to a Category 1 after peaking at a 2 with 105mph winds yesterday afternoon. Very little change in strength is expected before the storm moves inland tonight. There is still some uncertainty in the forecast track, but despite that, the storm will still bring rising surf and heavy rains to the region. A surge of 3-6 feet above normal tides is expected along with 4 to 8 inches of rainfall. It is still too soon to tell what further impacts up and along the east coast that Ida will have, but most indications at this time are that the system will remain to the south and east of New England. Heavy rain is forecast in the southeast US.

Weekend Weather

Tropical Depression Ida this morning

Post Number 799

We finally have some active weather to talk about, just not here. It has been a very quiet weather week in Ontario and Quebec with just a few flurries and sprinkles this morning along the US border. They should end by noon with clearing skies for the weekend. It will start off chilly today and Saturday morning. Today we will only warm to 5C with a north breeze. Winds however will veer to the south tomorrow and milder air will flow into the region. Look for temperatures of 10 to 12C for the weekend.

The active weather lies on both coasts like bookends. A strong Pacific storm is bring heavy rain and snow to BC and the Pacific northwest. Rainfall amounts of 50-100mm occurred along with heavy mountain snows. Winds were very strong as well with this storm. On the east coast a strong nor'easter is pounding the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland coasts with winds over 110km/h, high surf and up to 25cm of snow in the interior of both provinces. The cutoff for the precipitation is sharp with warnings confined to northern and eastern Nova Scotia and most of Newfoundland.

The last big story is we have a tropical system in the Caribbean Sea along the Honduras and Nicaraguan border. Tropical Depression Ida developed yesterday and reached storm strength with winds of 60mph. She has since weakened slightly to a depression as the system interacts with the land. The storm is expected to move into the southern Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and strengthen into a tropical storm once again. Heavy rain is producing flash floods along the Central American coast and especially over higher terrain inland. All interests along the US Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida should begin to monitor this system. It has been a very quiet season and with the end in sight, many have let their guard down. November hurricanes, while rare, can still pack a punch. Hurricane Jeanne back in 1980 flooded parts of the Florida Keys before moving up the east coast as a major storm with rain and even snow inland. Ida is following, to this point anyway, a life cycle similar to Jeanne. Stay tuned!

Breezy and cooler

Parts of Nebraska had record snow for the month of October with several areas recording there annual average in one month! Photo of North Platte, Nebraska from AccuWeather

Showers are slowly moving across the region this morning in advance of a cold front. They are light in nature and should taper off by noon. It will turn windy this afternoon behind the cold front with temperatures dropping to -3C tonight. Combine this with Northwest 30-50km/h winds and it will be an early taste of winter. Another frontal system and associated low will affect the region on Thursday with rain and mountain snow showers. A dusting of snow is possible in the Laurentians, Greens and Adirondacks. It will remain very chilly right through Friday. The weekend at this time looks quite pleasant with sunshine returning and much milder temperatures near 10C once again.

Pleasent weather to start week

A windy, wet Halloween on the West Island of Montreal

It was a very windy Halloween across the island of Montreal, with peak gusts over 70km/h. The good news was that the rain was much lighter than expected with about 9 mm falling. The wet weather was over by trick or treat time, but the wind continued well into the overnight before diminishing. Sunday was sunny with cloudy periods and breezy, but mild for early November with temperatures around 10C.

Monday will be fair before unsettled weather for the balance of the week. Several cold fronts will affect the region with showers at first but the threat for flurries by Thursday as much colder air moves into the St. Lawrence Valley and New England. Daytime highs in the 7 to 10C range will lower to the 3 to 5C range by Friday.