Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Storm threat diminishes

SUNY Oswego meteorology students and forecasters use this large Doppler on wheels to track lake effect snow yesterday off Lake Ontario. The truck is normally used to track tornadoes, but forecasters are trying to understand the dynamics that produce lake snows in this region. Over 13" (32cm) fell ion Oswego yesterday. (WSYR 9 Syracuse)

Light snow overnight has left from 2-5cm across the region, the first snow of 2011 for Montreal. There were some bursts of heavier snow along the 401 corridor from Brockville to Trenton yesterday as well as south of the lakes along Interstate 81, including south of Watertown and west towards Oswego where 13 inches fell yesterday. More lake effect snow can be expected today in those areas as well as off Lake Huron in central and southern Ontario.

The flurries will taper off in Montreal with seasonable temperatures expected today (-4C). Another clipper system will approach the area late Thursday into Friday with more light snow. We are only expecting a dusting to 5cm again with locally higher amounts near the lakes. That storm will redevelop off the east coast of the US. At this time it appears to be too far east to affect southern Quebec or Ontario, but we need another 24 hours or so to nail down that forecast. In any event light snow will continue most of the weekend with perhaps a few more centimetres expected. it will remain seasonable in the temperature department.

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