North American Weather (U.S.A & Canada)

[Coopsy]

As a storm moves north from Idaho to Alberta, unstable air with a cold tap from the north will produce heavy snows for many

Warnings for anything from 10cm to over 30cm for the next 24 hours here in southern alberta

http://www.theweathernetwork.ca/weather/al...gion=WWCAAB0020

[Weather-history]

If you wondering where the cold is , well the last 90 days in parts of NE USA has not been especially mild overall.

Portland, Maine (~-2.3C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72606_90.gif

Concord, New Hampshire (~-2.0C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72605_90.gif

Albany, New York (~-2.7C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72518_90.gif

Syracuse, New York (~-2.5C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72519_90.gif

New York City (~-1.5C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72503_90.gif

Pittsburgh, Penn. (~-2.1C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72520_90.gif

Columbus, Ohio (~-1.6C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72428_90.gif

Detroit (~-1.4C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72537_90.gif

Chicago (~-1.1C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72530_90.gif

Philadelphia (~-2C)

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/glob.../tn72408_90.gif

[johnholmes]

I like those graphs with the departure from normal through the months.

Be nice to see those for UK towns/cities?

[BL.]

Some decent warmth progged for the NY area this coming week?

[Coopsy]

Nothing much here after all the hype, maybe 5cm's on the grass , nothing on pavements and trees. Guess it was just too wet. However more warnings tonight of 10-30cm's...we'll see. Think the air mass is just too warm.

EDIT: Warning has been removed just as I thought at 11:00 am

[WhiteFox]

Some decent warmth progged for the NY area this coming week?

This weekend in fact.

Expecting 21oC today, 22oC tomorrow and perhaps 23oC on Sunday before cooling off slightly. About time is all I can say! Last Sunday was about as miserable as it could possibly be.

It has been rather cool here of late and throughout the NE as the graphs show. In fact, we were the only part of the CONUS to record a below average March, so spring as a whole has been below average here so far. I guess it's a continuation from the pattern which started at the end of January.

I like those graphs with the departure from normal through the months.

Be nice to see those for UK towns/cities?

They are rather good aren't they?

The March cold snap shows up rather well on those charts. With a maximum temperature of about -6 or -7oC here in New York it really was a complete shock to the system and almost the coldest day of the whole winter!

[WhiteFox]

A bit late on this one, but the April figures for the US show a marked difference from March. The weather has been see-sawing since the autumn over here!

April was generally cooler than average in the East and warmer than average from the Rockies Westward. Four states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama) recorded one of their top eleven coldest Aprils on record (remember the records only go back about 110 years). The rest of the East was either average or slightly below.

Rainfall remains very low for the South East, South West and parts of the Upper Midwest and Upper Rockies. Southern California is on course for the driest July to June period on record.

Everywhere else, springlike weather continues. We had a chilly couple of days last week in New York; a coastal storm brought cold winds and temperatures of about 13oC. Similarly here in Chicago yesterday it was chilly with an overnight low of 5oC. Back up to 30oC though by Wednesday followed by a couple of cold fronts so we'll be back in the teens. Won't be long until the low twenties is the coolest temperature though!

[BL.]

Bit warm on the old eastern seaboard at the mo?

[WhiteFox]

Bit warm on the old eastern seaboard at the mo?

It's warming up all over the country pretty rapidly. The sun is very strong at this time of year. Here in Chicago it was about 32 or 33oC yesterday. The heat is moving East and New York will likely hit 31oC tomorrow. The first 90oF day is a possibility tomorrow for the first time since August 3rd 2006...

Edited May 24, 2007 by WhiteFox

[Coopsy]

I wish it was here in Canada....snow for much of the past 24 hours...too warm to settle on pavements and roads but the grass and houses and cars etc have a dumping....looking to get warmer for the weekend though, yay

[WhiteFox]

I wish it was here in Canada....snow for much of the past 24 hours...too warm to settle on pavements and roads but the grass and houses and cars etc have a dumping....looking to get warmer for the weekend though, yay

Your turn will come!

It's the first really balmy night here in New York. So far I've resisted turning on the air-conditioner, but tonight I may crack. Temperatures are forecast to drop no lower than 21oC which is in the uncomfortable category for me.

[WhiteFox]

The summer sizzle looks to have begun in the South West USA. At this time of year the sun is intense and with little cloud cover, temperatures really rise rapidly. It's interesting to see the effect of the sun on 850 temperatures in this region. Firstly, take a look at this chart for the hottest part of the day (roughly - remember the 7 hour time difference from UTC):

Then we see the 850 temperatures 12 hours later before the sun really starts to heat the air:

This translates into a forecast high of 43oC for Phoenix, Arizona for Thursday and Friday this week. Believe it or not, this is only about 4 degrees above average! the record for June in Phoenix is a jaw-dropping 50oC...

At the same time, it is a very dry heat in the area. Take a look at the corresponding dew points:

So, maybe it won't feel humid, but 43oC is way too hot for me regardless!

Edited June 12, 2007 by WhiteFox

[summer blizzard]

Does anybody have the anomoly maps for May??

[WhiteFox]

Indeed I do. An above average month for the majority of the CONUS, with pockets of slightly below average:

Parts of Texas recorded below average temperatures and this corresponds with a wet month punctuated by persistent thunderstorms. The Upper Midwest/Ohio Valley stands out as a hot-spot as does the inner-mountain west. Indeed, four states in the Upper Midwest (Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois) recorded a top 11 warmest May on record, as did Rhode Island (bear in mind that Rhode Island is tiny!). Texas and South Carolina were the only two states recording slightly below normal temperatures. A total of 27 states returned temperatures slightly above normal and the remaining 14 recorded temperatures close to normal.

In terms of PPN, much of the Eastern Half of the US was much drier than normal with Georgia recording the driest May on record. Drought conditions persisted in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. 15 states in the East recorded a May in the top 11 driest on record, along with two in the West. The Midwest west of the Mississippi Valley and Upper Plains were wetter than normal, with five states (Texas, New Mexico, Montana, North & South Dakota) recording a top 11 wettest May on record. This is in line with a fairly persistent trough down through the Plains to Texas and ridges to the West coast and East coast. In fact, the Bermuda High was displaced further West than normal for much of May resulting in the South East being so dry.

[Coopsy]

After record winter snowfall melted in hot temperaures, and rainfall added to the problems, here is a pic of some of the floodind that my town of Canmore, Alberta encountered last week. I will post more pics when I manage to get them on the computer.

[Coopsy]

So far here in Canmore, Alberta, there has been snow on the ground every month this year. The last time it happened that there was snow on the ground every month of the year was back in 2000.

Talk is that it could be possible this year, I wouldnt be suprised

Last year 2006, the only snow free months were June, July and August.

[WhiteFox]

Another hot spell coming for the High Plains next week. Take a look at the 850s for Wednesday:

And the corresponding 2m temperatures:

The air thickness is also pretty amazing. The same areas which can experience thicknesses close to 500dm if not below, are looking at thicknesses of 582 or above:

I guess that's why they have some of the largest temperature extremes of anywhere in the world!

[Coopsy]

I drove from Canmore, Alberta to Nelson, BC on Saturday morning and there was huge damade over a huge area, spanning some 100 kms between Cranbrook and Creston. Locals say its the worst storm they have witnessed in many years. I saw hundreds of trees down and at one point what looked like destruction caused by a small tornado, however Environment Canada have not cofirmed this

Roger...if you read this do you know of any tornadic activity between Cranbrook and Creston, close to Yahk?

Power was out for almost 24 hours in many places like Cranbrook, Creston and Fort Steele and there was lots of actiivty on the roads clearing trees and debris and restoring power to villages and towns along the way...I was going to travel on the Friday nigth but decided not to. Good decision IMO

Here is one report http://www.canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/arti...articleID=21990

[Roger J Smith]

CC, I don't know if they have confirmed a tornado or not. These valleys tend to get very strong downdraught winds in thunderstorms because of the topographic channeling, and the radar loop for the storm (which was on Friday at 6:30 pm from what I've heard) did not show an obvious TVS. The damage could have been caused by straight-line winds, these can sometimes gust to 80 or 90 mph in the valleys here ... by the way, are you still in Nelson, I am up the valley in New Denver. Although we're just leaving for home in a few minutes, you should drive up through here to Revelstoke and back to Canmore, the scenery is stupendous around here.

Looking like a real heat wave for western Canada and the northwest USA in the next four or five days, could be close to 40 C in the prairies and 35 C even around Calgary.

[Coopsy]

Thanks for that Roger, it just looked strange that all the trees were down in one direction adn the suddently the damage was all over the place, trees falling left and the next one right and the other totally different.

I am back in Canmore now. I got the ferry from Balfour and travelled down the east side of Kootenay Lake. One of my personal favourite places. I am yet to go further than Balfour but the August long weekend I will probably make a trip out to Revelstoke or even Penticton/Kelowna way

Predicted temps for our part of the world may even break records if they come off...I ehard reports of 35oC for our town...4500ft above sea level

BC is gonna be super hot...long nights on the deck for you Roger

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention. On the Friday night here in town we had huge hailstones from a storm, the size of 10 cent coins..I have it on my camcorder which records straight onto CD but cant work out how to download the footage...anyone have an idea?

[WhiteFox]

Looking like a real heat wave for western Canada and the northwest USA in the next four or five days, could be close to 40 C in the prairies and 35 C even around Calgary.

Indeed. Currently about 28oC here in Victoria and beautiful blue skies. The Olympic mountains look fantastic across the water.

[Coopsy]

Temps maxing at 30oC today on the car temp with no cloud and what feels like quite high humidity for this area, very nice

[WhiteFox]

Certainly very hot across the West in the US:

46oC forecast for Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow. Death Valley is forecast to hit 54oC; that is approaching the all-time record!

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PDT /9 PM MST/ FRIDAY FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN NEVADA... NORTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FOR ELEVATIONS BELOW 4000 FEET.

RECORD TO NEAR RECORD HEAT IS EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY DUE TO A STRONG AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA. HIGH TEMPERATURES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE 112 TO 116 IN LAS VEGAS...BARSTOW...AND THE MORONGO BASIN...116 TO 121 ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY INCLUDING LAKE MEAD AND LAKE MOHAVE...113 TO 117 IN THE MESQUITE AREA...106 TO 111 IN KINGMAN...PAHRUMP AND PRIMM...121 TO 125 IN DEATH VALLEY...AND 119 TO 123 IN BAKER.

Edited July 5, 2007 by WhiteFox

[Coopsy]

Currently 29oC here at 9:30pm. Humidity is 77%. I have all windows open and fans going. Supposedly we have some type of air conditioning in this place but I dont know how to work it, I should have listened when I bought the place lol

[Roger J Smith]

Well, I am actually in England for the next week, so working the A/C is fairly easy for me. http://nwstatic.co.uk/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif

Looking at the forecast maps, a fairly strong cold front is developing for western Canada today (Friday) and could bring some severe storms to Calgary area and later on most of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Probably more hit and miss in BC but for that part of the world, it does look like an unusually high humidity alright, I know it felt quite oppressive on Wednesday when I left. Vancouver gets a nice sea breeze but still it was well into the 20s at YVR.

Anyway, keep an eye out there CC, you could be storm chasing later on.