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

[Lauren]

I will! I know how you feel, even when we had the cold December last year, my part of Glos missed out on all the fun with little more than 2 or 3 inches. I would say this is the most snow I have ever seen, I was around in the late 70's early 80's but too young to remember the snowfall back then. Where I am doesn't quite get the bitter very cold sustained very cold temps that they do on the continent but is a good location for lots of storms, still early in the season really though today was not that normal for here at this time of year.

What's it like living over there?

Why did you move there, if you don't mind me asking?

[Coopsy]

Things have calmed down here after the snows and ice of earlier this week. Temps currently 1oC at 8am so bodes well for the afternoon to hopefully melt some of then lying snow and ice

I saw footage of the snows in Newfoundland...looked particularly hardcore for November

[cheeky_monkey]

This may be the first faint signs of blocking that could slowly develop in December over the western Atlantic to Greenland which would perhaps be an indicator of colder weather to come for Europe, but I think this process will be hesitant as the Pacific jet is raging and coming in at a rather low latitude which can only keep things relatively warm east of the Rockies. It was cold for a few days in the Canadian prairies but now it has warmed up to well above normal with Winnipeg seeing about 10 deg and sunshine yesterday. That would be close to a record high for the date there.

Yes apart from last weekend it has been above normal here since the end of July..very dry and mild throughout..next 10 days included

[glosteroldboy]

What's it like living over there?

Why did you move there, if you don't mind me asking?

The missus is from here.

Cold, wet and windy is one way to sum it up! It's an island that gets plenty of rain, not too disimular to the UK really (much less people though the city of St Johns is quite busy, people are generally nice most of them originate from Ireland and the South West the accent is almost Irish) in some respects though experiences colder and snowier winters.

Apparently was a November record, 29cm:

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=18796&latest=1

I can see why the locals get sick of snow though, probably spent 2-3 hours yesterday digging out the drive and paths, the plow had been along early morning to clear the streets and shoved another line of snow about 2 feet high in front of the driveway which had to be shifted before you can get out. Can imagine it gets pretty bad when you get a few bad storms in the space of a few weeks, they run out of places to put the snow, when it gets too bad the council come along and load alot of it onto waggons with big snow blowers and dump it in the sea.

[Roger J Smith]

Another strong Pacific front coming inland tonight will spread across the Rockies on Sunday to bring the threat of hail and thunder in parts of southern BC and south-central Alberta before much colder air rushes south on Sunday night into Monday. Very strong westerly winds are likely to develop Sunday night veering to northwest with gusts to 60 mph. Temperatures will be as high as 8-10 C on Sunday morning before falling to -15 C on Monday.

The precip will be heavier in southern Alberta and southeast BC and could begin as rain, mix with ice pellets then turn to heavy snow before ending with blowing snow. During this, there could be some thunder and lightning.

Sunday is "Grey Cup day" for our national football championship, but that's indoors here in Vancouver "under the dome" -- outside it may be a windy, wet day which should pretty much cut down on any rioting (the local team is in the final which was prompting some concerns after so-called hockey fans started a major riot in Vancouver last June when the hockey team lost the final game of the playoffs, imagine Brazil losing the World Cup final in 2014 for an analogy, with vast quantities of beer added to the equation). Anyway, the locals are favoured to win the football game. In 1962, the Grey Cup game was outdoors in Toronto and they had to suspend play due to thick fog and finish the game the next day! And in 1950, the game was played in the aftermath of the storm I described (also in Toronto) a few posts back, the field was a sea of mud. So these two games are now recalled as the "Fog Bowl" and the "Mud Bowl" respectively (just for my new-to-Canada friends so you can have some clue what the hosers are talking about).

The game was also played in -20 C conditions in Winnipeg one year in the 1990s, forget when now, and the warmest outdoor game was something like 15 C one year in Vancouver, but quite often the weather has been something horrible, in 1965 it was blowing at 50 mph (also in Toronto) and some of the punts didn't even make it back to the line of scrimmage. Sure, it's a great game.

[Staffordshire]

Am a Brit currently living abroad in St Johns, First big snowfall of the winter predicted tonight tomorrow (15-30cm), well I say big the locals don't see it as too big a storm!

Seems like a great weather location, are there many Brits there? What's it like?

Best of luck to you glosteroldboy. Throw a few weeks of cold across the pond to Gloucester.......a little depressing with double figure temps day in day out.

[Roger J Smith]

St John's is the only city of any size in Newfoundland, and a little less extreme than what I'm going to say here, but the "Newfie" dialect is very much like 16th century Irish and hard to understand for other Canadians. This is a sample:

Haul troo the door, me hearties, an' sit yees down, lard thunderin Jeez, she's cold outsoide, she's blowin a gale an colder than a witch's tit that's for sure buddy, what's yer poison am havin a moosehead not me first noither merry jesus an joseph look at the rack on her boys she's meltin the oice on me pond that's fer certain. (end quote)

Newfies like to party, once upon a time when I was say about 20, I'm playing soccer in Ontario on a Saturday afternoon, behind the local Catholic church, one of the soccer--playing Newfies comes out of the church newly married with his buddies, all dressed up, and they join in for ten minutes and play soccer with us. In Canada, they used to be the brunt of certain jokes like perhaps Poles in Europe, but nowadays, seeing as they are all wealthy from the offshore oil, the joke's on us. Sample joke: how did Newfies plan to send astronauts to the Sun? Answer: at night.

We loves em, we just don't understands em.

[Coast]

Another strong Pacific front coming inland tonight will spread across the Rockies on Sunday to bring the threat of hail and thunder in parts of southern BC and south-central Alberta before much colder air rushes south on Sunday night into Monday. Very strong westerly winds are likely to develop Sunday night veering to northwest with gusts to 60 mph.

Southern Alberta has begun picking up the pieces after winds gusting as high as 130 km/h in some places roared through the area. In Calgary, winds that reached 91 km/h on Sunday, according to Environment Canada, triggered the city's Municipal Emergency Plan. Officials had shut down the downtown core to traffic and pedestrians and suspended LRT services in that area. Duty Insp. Keith Cain of the Calgary police said windows at TD Square downtown were blown out, roofing material and debris flew off downtown buildings and a roof was ripped off at a home in the 100 block of Slopes Grove S.W.

One firefighter said debris from one building was breaking off and shattering glass in a neighbouring building. The firefighter said it was "raining glass" in the area. Bruce Burrell, the director of emergency management, said wind conditions change, depending on the altitude.

"The real issue here is we're seeing higher winds … at the higher levels," he told CBC News. "So even though the wind is currently 50 kilometres an hour on the ground, at higher elevations — at the height of the Bow tower — those winds are 149 kilometres an hour.

"So it's those winds that are causing damage to higher structures in the downtown core and that's why we're seeing glass and debris come off those structures."

Residents were being advised to stay away from windows. Those who live in high-rise buildings were encouraged to secure their barbecues and other furniture on balconies, and reminded to turn off the propane and disconnect and shut off the gas line if it is a gas hook-up.

Calgary police said no injuries had been reported as of late Sunday evening. Fire officials said the entire department was out on city streets. Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation closed portions of Fish Creek Provincial Park because of tree damage and public risk of power lines falling down. Three LRT crossing arms have been broken off in south Calgary.

"It's a lot more severe out in the country where there isn't anything to block the winds when it's coming across the fields," said Jillian Millar, who drove south from Calgary Sunday afternoon with her husband to pick up their daughter from a party. "We didn't realize it was as bad as it was when we left the house."

Millar said farm animals were seeking shelter behind whatever they could find. She said she saw horses huddled beside a parked school bus. A semi was blown over by winds between Crossfield and Bowden. Conditions in Pincher Creek, in the southwestern corner of the province, were worse with Environment Canada reporting winds reaching 130 km/h by midday Sunday. High River activated its Emergency Operations Centre at 2 p.m. A firewall at Sunrise Terrace Apartments separated from the building, leading to an evacuation. RCMP also issued a travel advisory for motorists travelling from Calgary south to the American border. Officials say semi-trailers in particular, especially if they are empty or carrying a light load, should avoid travel in the area while it's so windy

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...nds-damage.html

[Lauren]

The missus is from here.

Cold, wet and windy is one way to sum it up! It's an island that gets plenty of rain, not too disimular to the UK really (much less people though the city of St Johns is quite busy, people are generally nice most of them originate from Ireland and the South West the accent is almost Irish) in some respects though experiences colder and snowier winters.

Apparently was a November record, 29cm:

http://www.vocm.com/...=18796&latest=1

I can see why the locals get sick of snow though, probably spent 2-3 hours yesterday digging out the drive and paths, the plow had been along early morning to clear the streets and shoved another line of snow about 2 feet high in front of the driveway which had to be shifted before you can get out. Can imagine it gets pretty bad when you get a few bad storms in the space of a few weeks, they run out of places to put the snow, when it gets too bad the council come along and load alot of it onto waggons with big snow blowers and dump it in the sea.

What's summer like? How hot does it get and does it have similar seasons to the UK?

[knocker]

.FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...

THE FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR

* PORTIONS OF INDIANA AND KENTUCKY...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING

AREAS...IN INDIANA...CLARK IN...CRAWFORD IN...DUBOIS IN...

FLOYD IN...HARRISON IN...JEFFERSON IN...ORANGE IN...PERRY IN...

SCOTT IN AND WASHINGTON IN. IN KENTUCKY...ADAIR KY...ALLEN

KY...ANDERSON KY...BARREN KY...BOURBON KY...BOYLE KY...

BRECKINRIDGE KY...BULLITT KY...BUTLER KY...CASEY KY...CLARK

KY...CLINTON KY...CUMBERLAND KY...EDMONSON KY...FAYETTE KY...

FRANKLIN KY...GARRARD KY...GRAYSON KY...GREEN KY...HANCOCK

KY...HARDIN KY...HARRISON KY...HART KY...HENRY KY...JEFFERSON

KY...JESSAMINE KY...LARUE KY...LINCOLN KY...LOGAN KY...MADISON

KY...MARION KY...MEADE KY...MERCER KY...METCALFE KY...MONROE

KY...NELSON KY...NICHOLAS KY...OHIO KY...OLDHAM KY...RUSSELL

KY...SCOTT KY...SHELBY KY...SIMPSON KY...SPENCER KY...TAYLOR

KY...TRIMBLE KY...WARREN KY...WASHINGTON KY AND WOODFORD KY.

* THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING

* AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 1.5 INCHES APPEARS LIKELY FROM RAINS TODAY

AND TONIGHT. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS NEAR 2 INCHES WILL BE

POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA AND NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY.

EVENT TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY LOOK

TO BE IN THE 2 TO 4 INCH RANGE.

* THESE RAINS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BRING FLASH FLOODING TO THE

REGION...HOWEVER AREA RIVERS AND CREEKS WILL SEE STEADY RISES.

LOCATIONS AT MOST RISK FOR MINOR RIVER FLOODING INCLUDE TELL

CITY...DEPUTY...BOSTON...WOODBURY...ROCHESTER...AND BLUE LICK

SPRINGS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON

CURRENT FORECASTS.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE

FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE

PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP.

[Roger J Smith]

Re summer in Newfoundland ... it tends to come rather late because the island is surrounded by much colder water than the UK and Ireland, but on the other hand there is a source of warmer air masses so the mix is probably a wider variety of temperatures in summer than you normally see in southern England. I mentioned earlier that winter tends to come late as well and the region is known for spring snowstorms. These don't suddenly end, they just try to keep happening well into May and even June but eventually the air mass dynamics change the precip to sleet and then rain, but you can still get some very chilly weather in June on a regular basis. In between it can be almost as warm as in New England or the Great Lakes region, but warm air masses will contain local sea fog depending on wind direction. St John's is just far enough north on the Avalon peninsula to get some benefit from overland trajectory so they get a lot of days when it starts out foggy and cloudy, then brightens as the wind shifts into the west. The full strength of hot, humid air masses is rarely felt in Newfoundland, a hot day there would be 27-29 C and days over 30 C are quite rare especially in the Avalon. They also get hit by remnants of Atlantic hurricanes fairly frequently and sometimes before extratropical transition. That cold water layer offshore shrinks back toward the coast and the storms come in almost full strength then rapidly change to regular lows but if the centre passes inland over Newfoundland then St John's can see winds of 60-80 mph, and with a more direct hit 100-200 mm rainfalls. The weather is least "maritime" by about September and October when the air mass differential to sea surface temperature is less of a factor, and during these months the weather in Newfoundland can be just about the same as in other parts of eastern Canada but by then it depends on regime, there could be weeks of warm and sunny weather but also long spells of cloudy and cool weather.

I could mention also in regard to winter that the climate is very stormy by UK or even Ireland standards, there tends to be a regular parade of strong Atlantic lows from all directions, so the weather keeps changing through a wide range from bitter cold to as mild as winter gets in southwest England, depending on storm tracks. Windstorms are frequent and can often reach gusts of 70-80 mph usually from a west to northwest direction but occasionally from due north, there tends to be a lot of mixed precip in December and January before a more snowy end to the winter. Freezing rain and sleet are not uncommon. The coldest part of the winter tends to be late February and March when the lag in sea ice further north is overcome, and the atmosphere often prefers a trough or cut-off low ... there are some warmer spells in some years but many years don't get these and so March continues to be wintry rather than spring-like, in fact sometimes it gets worse than December-January and heavy snowstorms pile up.

I think the best way to picture the climate is to imagine that you're getting random selections of the Little Ice Age climate of Britain with the dial turned towards stormy. There is probably less sunshine than most places in the UK, perhaps on a par with western Scotland. Total precip is probably two or three times what you get in southeast England. The annual snowfall is on the order of 200 cms but some recent winters have seen 400 cms (not all accumulating, some of it melts between events). There can be snow drifts on the order of 1.5 to 2 metres after some blizzards but there are also periods when the ground is bare and frozen or even thawed in mid-winter. So it's quite a rigorous climate with a few benign interludes. Bottom line is that they are on the right side of the ocean (actually the left side) for winter weather. You wouldn't guess that their latitude is about the same as central France, the 50N parallel cuts through the island fairly close to the "great northern peninsula" -- the weather up that way is about the same only tilted a bit more to the subarctic climate of Labrador. A factor in the regional climate that is totally different from the British Isles would be the presence of sea ice from about January to June, this can be accompanied by larger areas of near-freezing sea surface temperatures that extend all the way around the island (the ice rarely reaches the vicinity of the southeast or Avalon peninsula, it gets swept out to the east where it terminates around where the Titanic hit the iceberg in 1912). Ice can be pushed into bays on the north shore by strong winds and some harbours get blocked for weeks or months during the spring and even into the summer months on occasions. In other years there is no ice anywhere near the island, so this is a variable.

Something about the geography of Newfoundland -- it's similar to northwest Ireland in some ways, a lot of rather barren rocky "Canadian shield" regions, inland forests and bogs with small lakes, a range of fairly high hills along the western coast, but in other parts very rocky but not excessively elevated shorelines that have many small peninsulas and offshore islands -- settlement followed the fisheries, so that towns in Newfoundland tend to be in very exposed locations getting the full effects of the strong winds. The west side of the island around Corner Brook gets locally heavy sea effect snow in strong westerly winds. That sea effect snow rarely reaches St John's except in the form of flurries but if a storm winds up with cold southwest winds there can be sea effect snow from that direction. Blizzards are enhanced by sea effect which partly explains the high snowfall totals compared to cities in eastern Canada such as Halifax or even Moncton which gets somewhat the same winter climate.

[knocker]

FLOOD WATCH

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN

317 PM EST MON NOV 28 2011

...HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING REMAINS POSSIBLE TODAY INTO

TONIGHT...

.THE SLOW MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS

THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF

4 TO 5 INCHES HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED ACROSS PARTS OF THE CUMBERLAND

PLATEAU AND SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE SINCE EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

PERIODS OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING IN THE

WATCH AREA. ANOTHER ONE HALF TO ONE INCH OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE

ACROSS THE REGION. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE FLOODING PROBLEMS

FOR STREAMS...CREEKS AND RIVERS ACROSS THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU...SOUTHEAST

TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA.

SOME RIVERS ARE NEAR TO ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL

CONTINUE TO FLOOD OVERNIGHT. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST FLOOD WARNINGS

AND/OR FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHICH RIVERS ARE IN

FLOOD.

NCZ060-061-TNZ012-013-035-036-067>069-071-072-081>087-098>102-290430-

/O.CON.KMRX.FA.A.0004.000000T0000Z-111129T0900Z/

/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

CHEROKEE-CLAY-SCOTT TN-CAMPBELL-MORGAN-ANDERSON-ROANE-LOUDON-KNOX-

NW BLOUNT-BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-SEQUATCHIE-BLEDSOE-RHEA-MEIGS-

MCMINN-NORTHWEST MONROE-SOUTHEAST MONROE-MARION-HAMILTON-BRADLEY-

WEST POLK-EAST POLK-

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MURPHY...HAYESVILLE...ONEIDA...

LA FOLLETTE...WARTBURG...CLINTON...OAK RIDGE...KINGSTON...

LENOIR CITY...KNOXVILLE...MARYVILLE...CADES COVE...DUNLAP...

PIKEVILLE...DAYTON...DECATUR...ATHENS...MADISONVILLE...

COKER CREEK...JASPER...CHATTANOOGA...CLEVELAND...BENTON...

DUCKTOWN

317 PM EST MON NOV 28 2011 /217 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011/

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...

THE FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR

* PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA AND EAST TENNESSEE...

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS...IN SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...

CHEROKEE AND CLAY. IN EAST TENNESSEE...ANDERSON...BLEDSOE...

BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...BRADLEY...CAMPBELL...EAST POLK...

HAMILTON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...MCMINN...MEIGS...MORGAN...

NW BLOUNT...NORTHWEST MONROE...RHEA...ROANE...SCOTT TN...

SEQUATCHIE...SOUTHEAST MONROE AND WEST POLK.

* THROUGH LATE TONIGHT

* RAINFALL TOTALS SINCE EARLY SUNDAY BY LATE THIS EVENING ARE

EXPECTED TO REACH 2 TO 5 INCHES ACROSS MUCH OF THE WATCH

AREA...WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS FROM 5 TO 7 INCHES POSSIBLE. THIS

MAY CAUSE CONTINUED FLOODING OF SMALLER CREEKS AND STREAMS AS

WELL AS SOME LARGER RIVERS. PONDING OF WATER ACROSS LOW LYING

AREAS IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

* DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO FLOODED ROADS. YOU MAY NOT KNOW

HOW DEEP THE WATER REALLY IS. TURN AROUND! DON'T DROWN!

VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.

IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS...ABANDON IT AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND

IMMEDIATELY. RAPIDLY RISING WATER MAY ENGULF YOUR VEHICLE AND

ITS OCCUPANTS AND SWEEP THEM AWAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY

RAIN...WHICH MAY LEAD TO FLOODING IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. IF

YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA....KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR RISING WATER OR

WATER OVER ROADWAYS. KEEP INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR ACTION IF

FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR IF A FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED. IF YOU COME

TO A CLOSED OR FLOODED ROAD...TURN AROUND! DON'T DROWN!

&&

[cheeky_monkey]

Another strong Pacific front coming inland tonight will spread across the Rockies on Sunday to bring the threat of hail and thunder in parts of southern BC and south-central Alberta before much colder air rushes south on Sunday night into Monday. Very strong westerly winds are likely to develop Sunday night veering to northwest with gusts to 60 mph. Temperatures will be as high as 8-10 C on Sunday morning before falling to -15 C on Monday.

The precip will be heavier in southern Alberta and southeast BC and could begin as rain, mix with ice pellets then turn to heavy snow before ending with blowing snow. During this, there could be some thunder and lightning.

Never happened yesterday was very mild..we reached 10c but hasnt got cold today as you suggested..today its +1c not -15c..no snow forecast either..infact its staying mild for the next 7-10 days.

[Coopsy]

Great post Roger about Newfoundland!

This weather we're having is remarkable. It rained all day Sunday - temps at 6oC. LOTS of snow on the ski hill....hlaf way up the road to Sunshine and the snow started dumping. Approx 60cm in the last 3 days.

However down in the town I've not known a fall like it, the rain melting all the snow. It briefly turned back to snow for about 30 mins last night making a slight dusting but then the sun comes back out again today with highs of 5oC. Very unusual.

I have a feeling we could be seeing this westerly flow with chinook like conditions for a while, however in the new year we could get that prolonged blast of cold air they have been threatening.

I'll take this weather for now though, I'm loving having an almost english autumn. Apart form a few days its been positivley balmy :-)

[Roger J Smith]

The cold air swept past Edmonton just to the north and it turned a lot colder in most of western Canada overnight, but as you say the Pacific stayed in control from there west and south. I agree that it could stay rather mild for a few weeks yet, the flow is gradually buckling and going into a fast westerly which usually means the arctic air is held north of 60. I would expect a big change about a week before Christmas when a retrograde phase begins and the ridge retreats to the Pacific. This will open the floodgates for the severe cold to come south. But I'm not sold on this reaching the coast here, it may drive the front south of Alberta but only as far south as Wyoming to the central coast of B.C.

That storm is now up around the central arctic with a blizzard raging west of Hudson Bay.

[Coast]

CALGARY — The skies were still calm when the first wind storm alert went out midday Saturday.

As early-bird Christmas shoppers took advantage of the pleasant afternoon to chase down deals, members of Calgary’s special emergency response team quietly began mobilizing, too. A new wind warning system designed to predict Calgary’s gustiest storms was predicting Category 1, or hurricane force, gales could sweep through downtown towers the next day.

By Sunday morning, the storm hit. Trees crashed down, windows shattered and power lines collapsed as the storm blew through the city, shuttering the downtown, swamping emergency responders with calls and prompting the city to enact its Municipal Emergency Response Plan.

When the winds died down and the damage tallying began, the city’s emergency response boss breathed a sigh of relief. Sunday’s storm was bad, but it could have been much worse, said Bruce Burrell, director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency. “We’re the luckiest city in the world,†said Burrell, who is also fire chief. It’s incredibly hard to believe that given the amount of debris that was on the streets and the amount of pieces of glass and shards of glass that were all over the downtown area (Sunday) evening when I went down there and took a look around, that we did not have more significant injuries.â€

The city is lauding Sunday’s response to the storm a success. Part of that’s due to the early warning weather forecasting alert system. The city implemented the forecasting technology after a freak windstorm that had a far more tragic ending. In August 2009 three-year-old Michelle Krsek was killed by a steel bundle that plummeted from a downtown work site during a gusty storm.

“Because of that, we, with the industry, have made some drastic adjustments in what we consider to be safe, and we’ve seen the results of that . . . this last weekend that demonstrates it is valuable,†said Kevin Griffiths, the City of Calgary’s chief building official. The system is in place at three Calgary sites and set to become mandatory for new downtown towers in the new year. It forecasts 48 hours ahead, based on how the wind is expected to affect specific building locations.

On Saturday morning the system indicated high winds were going to hit the downtown, Griffiths said. The city then informed the emergency response group, which began monitoring the sky. Within hours Saturday afternoon, Environment Canada put out an official warning. As breezes picked up Sunday morning, a “fair bit of monitoring†was underway, Burrell said. It was 11 a.m. when the Calgary Fire Department became overwhelmed. It was only able to send one fire truck to each call. An hour later fire crews had 178 unanswered calls in a priority queue. At 1:05 p.m. the city enacted its Municipal Emergency Response Plan.

“By roughly 2 p.m. (Sunday) we were well aware of the magnitude of the event; what it was doing throughout the municipality†said Burrell. We had some preliminary mapping that showed us it was a widespread event, all the way from Stoney Trail, where the truck flipped over, right down all the way to the deep south end of the city. “We tracked the calls, we tracked the events. Everybody worked incredibly well together.†At the height of the storm the city’s 311 and 911 call centres handled four days’ worth of calls within just five hours. Sunday’s blast was no ordinary chinook. An intense, low-pressure system moving in from the northern Pacific, the warm temperatures settled across southern Alberta and the enhanced wind flow from the downslope of the Rockies, smashing together to cook up the windstorm, said Environment Canada meteorologist Bill McMurtry.

“It was much more than just a chinook,†he said. Environment Canada put out an official wind warning around 3:30 p.m. Saturday for Sunday’s event. Calgary clocked gusts of 91 km/h at the airport, though the gales were much higher at higher elevations, such as office towers. When the wind finally calmed, four assessment teams branched out downtown to map the damage and plan where to focus cleanup crews. Overnight, roughly 100 city staff moved street by street cleaning up the downtown. Road crews picked up large pieces of debris and tossed it into trucks to be taken to landfills, sweepers tidied the streets as best as possible. By 4 a.m. Monday much of the core was ready to reopen for the work week. The morning commute remained a headache. It wasn’t until late Monday afternoon that C-Train service in the downtown was restored.

Hard-hit homeowners spent much of the day recording damage and connecting with insurance agents. The city deactivated the emergency plan at 3:55 p.m. Monday. The city’s costs are likely to reach seven figures, Burrell predicted, though it will likely take weeks to determine the tab. All told, Calgary emerged from the storm “pretty darn lucky,†Burrell said. “It was one of those situations that worked out very, very, very well and we’re pleased there were no significant injuries.â€

http://www.calgaryhe...l#ixzz1f4vhKbWS

[Coopsy]

There is a weird feeling in the air to today - I cant describe scientificially but the sky is just strange - however envirnoment canada dont have anything other than a few flurries for tonight. Maybe its wishful thinking for a freak snowstorm lol

[summer blizzard]

I believe that there is a cold surge for the USA due within the next few days, surely you Canadians will benefit.

I really want to watch another Nor'Easter, that was just great.

[cheeky_monkey]

I believe that there is a cold surge for the USA due within the next few days, surely you Canadians will benefit.

I really want to watch another Nor'Easter, that was just great.

no cold surge here..nothing even close to normal in the next week..still well above normal..btw im not Canadian lol

Edited November 29, 2011 by cheeky_monkey

[Coopsy]

Well well - I guess my weather nose was right - they have just issued a weather warning for these parts of freezing rain and then upto 10cm's or more of snow as upsloping develops. We can get slammed in upsloping situations here or it can just miss us. Could be an interesting one to watch

[Roger J Smith]

The cold surge will be directed well to the east of Alberta towards the Great Lakes region, and it doesn't look overly strong.

We have a weak storm moving inland here tonight with low-elevation rain and 10-15 cms of mountain snow, this will eventually be pushed well to the south towards Colorado where a heavy snowstorm is likely mid-week, while a strong Pacific high ridges east and crests over the Rockies on Thursday-Friday. This will bring sub-freezing nights to BC and southern Alberta but not all that cold in the daytime, 5-7 C on average, and also it will promote a very mild flow across northern parts of western Canada with the core of the warm anomaly later this week near the Alberta-NWT border.

The long mild spell in the northeast US is coming to a temporary end as a storm moves north then northeast from western North Carolina towards New England. Colder air is trapped under its rather sluggish circulation and this could lead to some very heavy snowfalls at high elevations of Virginia and West Virginia but it likely won't fall much below 4 C in the northeast cities as the remnants of this cold core low move on towards the Labrador Sea. This is the same energy that you see coming across the Atlantic on Friday-Saturday.

[glosteroldboy]

The snow has all but melted here now, still got the dirty piles left over in front gardens and car parks and bits on the pavemments (or should I say sidewalks)from the clearance efforts. Though I imagine it will all be gone by the end of tomorrow with a high of 8 today and 14 tomorrow with rain, then it's back to highs of just above freezing into the weekend....that's how varied the weather can be here at this time of year, since the snow last week we've had flurries most days it's remained cold enough for that. I don't think its until we reach January/Feb do they generally see the snow stick around with regular top ups. White christmases are more common than in the UK though it's not gauranteed, they didn't have one last year like we did.

Edited November 30, 2011 by glosteroldboy

[knocker]

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT

249 AM MST WED NOV 30 2011

MTZ012-013-051-053-054-302230-

/O.CON.KTFX.WS.W.0027.111130T1500Z-111201T0600Z/

/O.CON.KTFX.WW.Y.0053.111130T1500Z-111201T0600Z/

CASCADE-CHOUTEAU-FERGUS-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...GREAT FALLS...

KINGS HILL PASS...BIG SANDY...FORT BENTON...LEWISTOWN...

LEWISTOWN DIVIDE...TOWNSEND...WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS

249 AM MST WED NOV 30 2011

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING

TO 11 PM MST THIS EVENING...

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS

MORNING TO 11 PM MST THIS EVENING...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING

TO 11 PM MST THIS EVENING. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN

EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM MST THIS EVENING.

* TIMING AND MAIN IMPACT: WIDESPREAD SNOW WILL DEVELOP THIS

MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY BEFORE TAPERING OFF THIS

EVENING. PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ARE EXPECTED THIS

AFTERNOON.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 6 TO 10 INCHES EXPECTED ABOVE 4000 FEET

WITH 10 TO 16 INCHES EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS. 3 TO 6

INCHES IS EXPECTED AT LOWER ELEVATIONS...INCLUDING THE GREAT

FALLS AREA.

* WINDS AND VISIBILITY: A CANADIAN COLD FRONT WILL SHIFT WINDS TO

NORTH WITH GUSTS OF 25 TO 35 MPH THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL PRODUCE

BLOWING SNOW WITH VISIBILITIES TO A HALF MILE OR LESS.

* OTHER IMPACTS: EXPECT UNTREATED ROADWAYS TO BECOME SNOW COVERED

AND SLIPPERY WITH SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING THIS AFTERNOON.

* LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE: WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS...

LEWISTOWN...LEWISTOWN DIVIDE...BIG SANDY...FORT BENTON...

TOWNSEND...GREAT FALLS...KINGS HILL PASS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE

EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. LIMIT ANY

NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA

FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN

EMERGENCY.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MEANS THAT

VISIBILITIES WILL BE LIMITED DUE TO A COMBINATION OF FALLING AND

BLOWING SNOW. USE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING...ESPECIALLY IN OPEN

AREAS.

FOR SPECIFIC ROAD AND TRAVEL CONDITIONS IN MONTANA...DIAL 5 1 1.

&&

[Roger J Smith]

Crystal clear and pleasant here today although not overly mild at 6 C.

Here's a link to the current map. Bookmark this if you like because it will update every 3 hours (about 2 hours after map times which are shown bottom left).

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/lrgnamsfcwbg.gif

Sorry but it's in Fahr degrees. At this time of year that becomes less of an issue as you go north. The two scales meet at -40. I'm sure most here know this but freezing is 32 F, zero F is -18 C, -22 on these maps is -30 C. 50 F is 10 C, 70 F is 21 C. Stuff like that fairly easy to remember (especially if you lived through the metric conversion).

Looking at this map, would draw your attention to the developing upslope snowstorm over parts of Wyoming and Colorado. Not my job to teach basic geography but these are the two rectangular states that are inland west. I believe they are the only two entirely rectangular states on the map but Utah also has nothing but straight lines for boundaries. New Mexico almost but not quite (can you find the exception? Look at El Paso TX). Now here's a trivia question, what American state in the lower 48 has NO straight-line boundaries? Not including Hawaii whose "boundaries" are matters of international maritime law? Or Alaska which does but not with another state, but with Yukon in Canada. Answer tomorrow some time. And what two features almost always are associated with non-linear state boundaries? Answer below.

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

Rivers and "heights of land" or drainage boundaries. Examples of rivers are so numerous as to be not worth listing. Drainage boundaries or mountain ranges are more unusual. Montana and Idaho have such a boundary, the Bitterroot Mountains. Another example is found between Virginia and West Virginia.

[glosteroldboy]

Wet and windy, into December and 14 degrees...reminds me of home!