Lake-Effect Machine Gets Cranking This Weekend

A second, unseasonably cold Arctic air mass will push into eastern Canada this weekend. The combination of the very cold winds moving over the relatively warm lakes will likely set off widespread snow showers, while the typical northwest to southeast flow snowbelts may have to deal with heavy snow squalls.

The map I made earlier today shows where we think the heaviest snowfall potential is for this weekend with areas of lighter snowfall also shown.

Places outside the snowbelts such as Toronto, Windsor, Ottawa and Montreal will get plenty of wind, cold and flurries over the weekend with the chance of a brief, heavier snow shower.

It is still too early to post a snowfall map, but this does look like a favorable setup for localized snowfall amounts of at least 30 cm downwind of Lake Huron with slightly lower amounts downwind of Georgian Bay.

I guess the folks in the East shouldn't feel too bad as the residents in Edmonton, Alberta, woke up to 32 degrees below zero C this morning, and as of this writing, it has recovered to only 23 below zero C.

---- Interior Newfoundland blizzard Into Thursday

Also, a rapidly developing storm just off Newfoundland will create blizzard conditions across parts of central and western Newfoundland tonight into tomorrow with strong winds, high drifts and poor visibility.

The Avalon Peninsula will mostly get a mix of snow and rain going over to rain as ocean air gets drawn westward. The rain may turn back to some snow later Thursday, but overall, we do not see much in the way of any accumulation for St. John's as the storm's center will end up a little too close.

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