United States

Clippers, Ice and Snow Drought

January 16, 2014; 3:03 PM

A series of Alberta clippers will dive southeast from the Prairies into the east over the next week.

A weakening clipper will produce widespread snow showers through Friday into eastern Canada. Accumulations will be light and on the or of 2-5 cm with some locally higher amounts.

A second clipper will track toward the U.S. Midwest early in the weekend and will also produce a narrow swath of light snow. Expect 5-10 cm in the Winnipeg area. This clipper will also weaken as it moves into the eastern U.S.

The NASA MODIS image below from two days ago clearly shows the expanding ice coverage on Lake Erie (grey/duller white), while the deeper Lake Huron and Ontario are mostly ice free.

Snow drought

The side by side images below clearly show the dramatic change in snow cover over the Pacific Northwest and SW BC from one-year ago to today. Unfortunately for snow lovers I do not see any significant snow through at least early next week due to the strength of the high pressure ridge.

The jet stream pattern is projected to amplify over the next week or so and this will allow another shot of very cold air to push into the Prairies and eastern Canada next weekend and the week after, while the West Coast stays dry and mild.

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We will be heading up into Ontario for the next few days to enjoy some great skiing at Mount St. Louis, which is a little over an hour north of Toronto and right on the 400.

Last week the weather charts were looking quite cold for this coming weekend, but have thankfully backed off on the extreme cold. Should be a good weekend for skiing and snowboarding.

I see that all 36 trails are currently open. My youngest daughter Camryn (5) learned to ski at Mt. St. Louis last winter and she is eager to get back out on the slope. This is a great place for the entire family. Highly recommended.

I will post some pictures next week.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com