What is your weather today? (IV)

[Nicko999]

1C and clear this morning.

Still waiting for the first "frost".

[SignalHillHiker]

The American forecast was right instead of the European one. Wow!



VIA CBC NL:

24 hours out and our incoming system is finally starting to take shape along the East Coast of the U.S. The low will work it's way Northward through Friday and forecast models are in much better agreement this evening with a track up over West/Central Newfoundland on Friday night, before departing early Saturday. West of that track we're looking at Snowfall. East of the track it's a mainly rain event, followed by a blast of cold air for everyone.

EASTERN NFLD
Showers & periods of rain move in through Friday evening & overnight with generally 5-10 mm looking set by Saturday morning with temperatures rising to near 10°. By mid-Saturday morning the rain will be kicking out and we'll see Sunshine breaking in for the rest of the day with winds gusting 60-70+ km/h in the morning, slowly easing through the day. Temperatures falling to the freezing mark by Evening.

[jawagord]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

The "polar vortex" is back! lol. Are they going to use this every time a trough in the jet stream pushes the arctic high down into the US now? gotta love media sensationalism...

Omega block is what we are experiencing, it's been called this for decades due to the omega shape of the jet stream. If you are on the edges, just call it cold!

http://www.businessinsider.com/omega-block-is-causing-extreme-weather-2014-11

[Metro-One]

Frost and freeze are two different things. You can be above 0 and have a frost, or can be below 0 with no frist.

Also, honestly SignalHillHiker, you friend was posting frost pics from Vancouver? What did he expect??

Outside of the tropics and the mildest coastal regions (such as the southern half of coastal California) you will always have frosts. Nearly the entire continental North America expereinces many frosts throughout the winter, even as far south as northern Florida. Many sub tropical locations even have average monthly lows below 0 for a couple months of the year (or near it).

The only places in Canada and the US where a picture of frost would be surprising are coastal california San Fran south, the lowest elevations of southern Arizona, and the panhandle of Florida (more so the coastal ring of the Panhandle) and maybe a few other thin coastal strips along the Gulf of Mexico and up the eastern coast up to Georgia.

[giallo]

It seems like a lot of Canadians out east (not SSPers, obviously) have this idea that it never freezes in Vancouver. It must be a bummer for those of them that move here with that in mind, especially when November/December rolls around.

[craneSpotter]

Well, I believe we were the last to fall

The Victoria airport is sitting at -0.7 , the other main stations to the south are still above 0 however @ 2-3.

It was a good run Managed a high of 8 today in the sunshine... it was nice. Forecast for tomorrow is sunny and 7.

[SignalHillHiker]

Hehehe, Metro - I know but, I kid you not, his buddies there are commenting on his pic as if it never happens. Not everyone's as realistic as you.

[north 42]

Another cold day today, 3c with flurries. Normal high is 8.6c.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by giallo

It seems like a lot of Canadians out east (not SSPers, obviously) have this idea that it never freezes in Vancouver. It must be a bummer for those of them that move here with that in mind, especially when November/December rolls around.

Even many of us here in the Lower Mainland exaggerate how warm Vancouver can be.

The term we never get snow is over used.

Of course we get snow. There hasn't been a single year where Vancouver hasn't recorded snow. In fact according to wikipedia we get on average 38cm of snow a year on an average of 9 days.

Thats not the "snow is rare" half truth people spread online.

[MonctonRad]

Currently +1C in Moncton and snowing. It's sticking on the ground which is a first for us this year.

Forecast is for about 5 cm. There is a snowfall warning in northern Nova Scotia with 10-15 cm expected there.

And so it begins..........

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Frost and freeze are two different things. You can be above 0 and have a frost, or can be below 0 with no frist.

Also, honestly SignalHillHiker, you friend was posting frost pics from Vancouver? What did he expect??

Outside of the tropics and the mildest coastal regions (such as the southern half of coastal California) you will always have frosts. Nearly the entire continental North America expereinces many frosts throughout the winter, even as far south as northern Florida. Many sub tropical locations even have average monthly lows below 0 for a couple months of the year (or near it).

The only places in Canada and the US where a picture of frost would be surprising are coastal california San Fran south, the lowest elevations of southern Arizona, and the panhandle of Florida (more so the coastal ring of the Panhandle) and maybe a few other thin coastal strips along the Gulf of Mexico and up the eastern coast up to Georgia.

It would extremely rare to see frost in Southern Florida. In fact, Key West (along with the Keys and Miami Beach) is the only place in the mainland US that has NEVER experienced frost. Their all-time record is 5C.

Speaking of frost, first one in Montreal this morning. It's only -2C so it's not a heavy one.

[geotag277]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Even many of us here in the Lower Mainland exaggerate how warm Vancouver can be.

The term we never get snow is over used.

Of course we get snow. There hasn't been a single year where Vancouver hasn't recorded snow. In fact according to wikipedia we get on average 38cm of snow a year on an average of 9 days.

Thats not the "snow is rare" half truth people spread online.

Yeah but really how often do you see snow walking around downtown Vancouver during winter? I'd say it's so rare you could be forgiven to forget it even exists.

The reading from Wikipedia must be the airport reading.

[Metro-One]

Thats the funny thing, is snow "normal" in Vancouver, not really, the average winter day is green and above freezing (and rainy!).

For example, a clear sunny day in Vancouver is more common in the winter than a snowy day, but Vancouver is not known as a sunny winter place is it?

That being said, while snow can be argued to be "relatively rare" it is not rare in the truest sense of the word.

There are many many places in the world that do this as well, where they claim that snow is rare, but in reality it is an annual occurrence. The media drums this up as well.

Even where I live in Japan the people do this. Last winter there were 2 heavy snow falls (one lasting a few days on the ground, the other melting the same evening) and about 5 or so more days that had flurries in the air for a few minutes or so. Yet everyone here claims it never shows. But, indeed, a normal winter day is not snowy. Therefore it easy to see how when ever it does snow, it is still a surprise.

Throwing an arbitrary number out there but for snow to feel "common" in a location during winter I feel that snow has to be falling or on the ground / present in some form for at least 30 % of the winter or more. Maybe a little less if an area is consistently frozen in the winter.

[SignalHillHiker]

I think of all the weather statistics I've ever read about anywhere - norms, records, or whatever else - the one that shocked me most was how many sub-zero days Vancouver gets in a year. Not just consecutively, which is similarly low in several cities, but full stop. The total number on average.

You can basically count it on one hand lol

[SignalHillHiker]

Currently 8C. Forecast high today of 9C.

Norms for November 14

High: 7C
Low: 0C

Records for November 14

High: 17.9C (1979)
Low: -7.0C (1985)
Rainfall: 65.9mm (1999)
Snowfall: 8.9cm (1971)
Snow on ground: 6.0cm (1990)

*****

So much sun everywhere right now, but none for us.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by geotag277

Yeah but really how often do you see snow walking around downtown Vancouver during winter? I'd say it's so rare you could be forgiven to forget it even exists.

The reading from Wikipedia must be the airport reading.

4 days last winter alone.

Also most people don't live downtown.

Burnaby gets almost twice the snow downtown gets.

Surrey has an even larger dump than Burnaby.

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

4 days last winter alone.

Also most people don't live downtown.

Burnaby gets almost twice the snow downtown gets.

Surrey has an even larger dump than Burnaby.

But, in Canadian context and relative to other places in our country, snow on the ground would be considered 'rare' in Vancouver. I think Vancouver (YVR) averages only 9 days a year with measurable snow depth. Even out in Abbotsford they average only 13 days per year. Most Canadian cities have 80-140 days a year with measurable snow on the ground - spread over a longer period. So you could frequently visit Vancouver during winter and never see any snow. Elevation impacts this significantly - higher areas >2-300m are more prone to snow than lower ones.

Of course snow will occur everywhere across this country - this is Canada

[craneSpotter]

Sunny and +4-5 in Victoria this morning at 10am. Nice enough. High of 7 forecast for today.

Yesterday we had highs of 7 to 9 and lows of -3 to 2 at the official 24 hour stations.

[Nicko999]

There you go... first snowflakes of the season.

[Dwils01]

We have gotten over 100cm of snow at the airport so far and it's only mid November.
Average snowfall for the winter season is just over 300cm.