Back to winter...for a day

I guess I need to come to terms with the fact that it is just going to be this kind of a winter. I have never been a fan of the up and down temperature trends, which creates lots of icy, crunchy snow, which is useless to everyone. The sidewalks and residential streets have been in a constant state of slippery since Christmas. Sadly this trend will continue, after yesterday's warm high of 5C at the airport, 6C at my home, the temperature sits at -4C this morning with a very cold northwest wind up to 45km/h. It was a brisk walk this morning with the dog after the spring warmth of Tuesday, wind chill readings are in the minus teens. What melted yesterday has, you guessed it, frozen this morning. Our high for the day has been reached already with temperatures falling to -7C by late afternoon and -13C overnight. Skies will try to clear as weak high pressure nudges in from the west. Skies will remain fair on Thursday before clouds increase ahead of our next storm system on Friday.

Above: Texas has been beyond parched over the past year, but it is finally raining this morning. The problem is too much all at once with flooding reported. This storm will bring us snow by Friday.

Low pressure currently giving flooding rain to parched Texas will lift into the Ohio Valley on Thursday and across New England on Friday. Depending on which computer model you like, the storm will either give snow or rain. Environment Canada has been flip flopping on the forecast for the last 36 hours or so. It is a difficult call as well with so much warm air moving north with the storm. It looks like perhaps a similar event to most storms this winter, a mix of snow and freezing rain to start changing over to rain by Friday here in the south. We will have to wait and see with later model runs as to the type and quantity of precipitation expected here in southern Quebec, but Friday looks unsettled.

Environment Canada has posted a special weather statement regarding this potential storm. You can read it HERE.