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!