New Year - New Storm

Some of the wind blown snow is plowed away (and blown away) in Beaconsfield yesterday.

Lots to talk about this morning in the weather department. First of all it is cold this morning, minus 18C here on Ile Perrot and -20C in the Ottawa area. Yesterday we had a blustery day with lots of blowing snow and biting wind chills around the mid minus twenties.

We can expect a sunny and chilly day today but the wind will ease. Tonight a clipper system approaching from the west will moderate out temperatures and produce a little light snow into New Years Eve. That will be followed by a impressive winter storm taking shape along the east coast of the US. Models have been all over the place with this storm. It is expected to rapidly strengthen east of Cape Cod before retrograding back towards the coast and into northern New England. Many questions are still up in the air regarding precipitation strength and location and wind. The potential does exist for a very heavy snowfall and wind event in the St. Lawrence Valley. The steady snow will begin New Years Day and continue well into the weekend. It is way to soon to pinpoint who will get what, but travel will be greatly impacted. More information will be posted later today on this storm which could be a big one for Montreal and southern Quebec.

• We have a second full moon this month tomorrow night to greet the New Year. The "Full Long Nights Moon" is classified as a "blue moon" because it is the second full moon this month.

• The NHL Winter Classic will be played outside at my favorite ballpark, Fenway Park home of the Red Sox. The game between the Flyers and the Bruins starts at 1pm New Years Day. The weather looks troublesome at this point from the same coastal storm we are concerned about.