New record highs set in NB

Jones Lake, Moncton, NB, 28 May 2015 (Dearing)

It turned out to be a scorcher of a day in most of New Brunswick yesterday.

Environment Canada says nine communities set new record highs.

In Greater Moncton, the thermometer climbed to 31.5°C at the airport which beats the old area record of 30.6°C from 1929.

By mid-afternoon, the humidex had reached an unbearable 50 in Miramichi before the humidity level finally dropped.

The highest temperature in the province and all of Canada was Red Pines near Bathurst at 36.0°C.

Meanwhile, fog kept temperatures much cooler along the Fundy coast with a high of only 15°C in Saint John.

From cold to hot

Leaves are finally bursting out, Irishtown Nature Park, 24 May 2020 (Dearing)

Numerous record lows were set across the Maritimes early Sunday morning as temperatures plummeted under clear skies and light winds.

But the cold will be replaced by heat as the jet stream surges north over Eastern Canada this week.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for New Brunswick with unseasonably warm weather expected for late May.

Records will be challenged in Greater Moncton as daytime highs soar to 30°C and humidex values reach the mid-30’s.

New record lows set on 24 May:

• Woodstock -4.7°C
• Edmundston -3.0°C
• Grand Manan -2.8°C
• Bouctouche -1.9°C
• Saint John -1.6°C
• Kejimkujik NP -1.6°C
• Summerside -1.4°C

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Active Atlantic hurricane season predicted

U.S. forecasters have unveiled their projections for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and it promises to be a busy one with 13 to 19 named storms and 6 to 10 becoming hurricanes.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believes several factors are at play this year including above average sea surface temperatures, weaker tropical trade winds and an expected La Nina climate pattern.

Although the season doesn’t officially begin until 01 June, there has already been one named storm – Arthur – which had peak wind gusts of 95 km/h and neared the Southeastern U.S. before moving out to sea without striking land.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre will also be keeping an eye on storms which enter northern waters.

Last September, Hurricane Dorian made landfall near Halifax and caused destruction across Nova Scotia, Southeast New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

River Watch ends

Flooding along the St. John River in Maugerville, 23 April 2019 (5th Canadian Division/Facebook)

The annual River Watch in New Brunswick has ended for the 2020 season.

The program was launched in early March and monitors water levels on rivers in the spring with emergency officials providing regular updates on the potential for flooding.

After historic flooding along the St. John River in both 2018 and 2019, thankfully this spring was much quieter with no major events recorded.

It’s a blessing in disguise since the province has been coping with the coronavirus pandemic with a state of emergency in place since 19 March.

Finally 20°C!

The thermometer finally hit 20°C in Greater Moncton – a benchmark not seen since 26 September (almost eight months!) – and it comes much later compared to recent years.

The temperature reached 20.3°C late this afternoon although Fredericton was the hot spot in New Brunswick at 21.7°C.

It has been an exceptionally cold spring – May is running about four degrees below average to date – and even slightly colder than last year’s chilly season.

Environment Canada is forecasting another cool start to the week but a warming trend could push daytime highs to almost 30°C by Friday.

Record heat in B.C.

Inner Harbour, Victoria, BC, 10 May 2020 (clippervacations/Twitter)

As Eastern Canada shivered under winter-like conditions, residents of British Columbia especially along the Pacific coast have enjoyed summer-like weather.

At least 17 new record highs were set in the province on Sunday alone with many others shattered on Friday and Saturday.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic and recent lockdown restrictions, many were anxious to spend time outdoors and soak up some vitamin D.

New record highs set on 10 May:

• Hope 30.2°C
• Squamish 30.1°C
• White Rock 29.1°C
• Victoria 27.8°C
• Comox 26.6°C
• Bella Bella 25.2°C
• Prince Rupert 24.4°C

Polar vortex brings cold, snow

Snow in Hanwell, NB, 09 May 2020 (Twitter/@marlowcam8)

It’s the middle of May and spring has barely appeared in New Brunswick so far and now an intense low pressure system has brought a wintry blast.

Greater Moncton had strong winds along with a cold rain which later turned to snow and a couple centimetres accumulated on colder surfaces like vehicles.

But the central, western and northern parts of the province got blasted with more than 30 cm of heavy, wet snow in some areas.

Meteorologists say cold air from the polar vortex continues to loom over eastern North America with new record lows set in Ontario this weekend and New York City recorded its latest trace of snow since 1977.

Snowfall amounts, 10 May at 3pm ADT (cm):

• Woodstock  33
• New Maryland  24
• Bouctouche  22
• Grand Falls  20
• Miramichi  20
• Fredericton  9
• Bathurst  6

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Green up underway

Green up in west end Moncton, 04 May 2020 (Dearing)

Over the past few days, the landscape across Southeast New Brunswick has been greening up and the buds are bursting on the trees.

Recent warm weather and some precipitation – including wet snow today – have finally made it look more like spring.

However, the long range forecast doesn’t have much heat with below average temperatures likely in the next 10 days.

Most of Canada cold in April

This past April was a cold one for much of #Canada, notably in the Prairies with an anomaly of more than 5°C for #Saskatoon! On the opposite, the northern coast experienced higher temperatures than normal; by more than 6°C for Alert! #wxtwitter #climate pic.twitter.com/AEcsbeljPE

— Patrick Duplessis (@Pat_wx) May 1, 2020

April 2020 – Where’s spring?

First dandelions of spring in Moncton, 30 Apr 2020 (Dearing)

Signs of spring were extremely rare in April with frigid overnight lows in Greater Moncton making it feel like a continuation of March.

Any warmth came in short spurts with only 11 days above 10°C and some nights sank as low as -5°C right up to the end of the month.

Like the previous month, April was also quite dry with both rainfall and snowfall amounts well below average.

APRIL 2020 ALMANAC (at Greater Moncton Int’l Airport, 1981-2010)

Average HIGH 8.3°C

Average LOW -2.4°C

AVERAGE 3.0°C (about 0.5 degrees BELOW normal)

Extreme HIGH 15.7°C (30 Apr)

Extreme LOW -6.3°C (09 Apr)

RAINFALL 19.2 mm (about 70 percent BELOW normal)

SNOWFALL 19.8 cm (about 35 percent BELOW normal)

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)