Widespread chill to linger into early May
Persistent high latitude blocking has suppressed the jet stream much farther south than normal, which has allowed unseasonably cool air deep into the lower 48 states. The exception has been the West Coast as a high-pressure ridge is boiling across the region.
Over the next week or two, the high-latitude blocking pattern will weaken, but it will be a slow process, thus pockets of chilly air will remain across large sections of southern Canada and the northern half of the United States.
Storms tracking across the lower 48 states will continue to be slow-moving due to the blocking pattern and have the potential to produce significant rainfall in some areas.
By the second week of the month, the jet stream will begin to retreat north, and storms will speed up, leading to a more normal middle-of-spring pattern across North America.
The AccuWeather Canada blog comes to a close
Today is the final entry for this blog. I am not totally sure, but I believe I started writing this blog about 15 or so years ago. I did not have a lot of experience with the weather patterns in Canada when AccuWeather.com first asked me to write this blog, since I was more focused on U.S. weather during my initial 10-15 years at the company, but over time, I learned a great deal, and hopefully, I was able to help some people prepare, whether it was for an upcoming snowstorm, severe weather or even a long-range outlook. I can certainly say it has been a wonderful experience over the years. I have had a lot of interactions with some of my readers and also made some new friends from across the border.
Over the past several years, more of my focus has been on creating and improving the feature graphics for the AccuWeather Network and AccuWeather.com., which is something I love doing. I will also keep contributing to the AccuWeather Global Climate blog.
By the way, I will continue to produce the AccuWeather seasonal outlooks for Canada, so you may see me quoted from time to time here on AccuWeather.com and through other media outlets, especially when there are major weather stories for Canada and also the U.S.
Cheers!
