Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Winter Solstice

Welcome to the first day of Winter 2010-2011. Winter arrived late last night across the country, although most of us have probably had enough of the snow and cold already. The good news is that the days will now begin to get longer. The official start of the season began at 6:38 pm EST. For the first time in over three centuries, the first day of winter coincided with the full Cold Moon and a lunar eclipse. The eclipse by all accounts was spectacular where you could see it. Sadly in Montreal, low clouds and flurries prevented us from viewing it, that, and the fact I was asleep by 10pm last night! The eclipse began around 1:33am EST and ended by 3:53am EST. The last time such an event occured with the winter solstice was in 1632 according to NASA.

A major storm over the Atlantic southeast of Nova Scotia will begin to slowly influence the weather in southern Quebec today. Some light snow can be expected over the next 24 hours, with gusty north winds. Look for the best chance of snow from late this afternoon into tomorrow morning, with about 5cm expected. Temperatures will be mild, close to the freezing point. Beyond that it looks like fair weather through the Christmas period with the next chance of snow late Sunday.

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