Warmest high of 2017

Sunflowers flourishing during heat wave, Salisbury, NB, 24 Sept 2017 (Dearing)

Having a heat wave in late September is unusual for Southeast New Brunswick but even more so is that the highest temperature of 2017 has occurred in early autumn.

The thermometer soared to 31.1 C yesterday (26 September) at the Greater Moncton International Airport which breaks the previous maximum of 29.6 C from 2007 and records date back to 1881.

The previous high for the year had been 30.6 C recorded on 04 August.

At least 10 other New Brunswick communities set new record highs yesterday including Fredericton at 32.8 C, Woodstock at 32.3 C and Bouctouche at 31.8 C.

Environment Canada says temperatures will return to more seasonable values by the weekend with highs between 16 and 18 C.

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Record highs in the Maritimes

Jones Lake, west end Moncton, 18 May 2017 (Dearing)

Summer-like air enveloped the Maritime Provinces with new record high temperatures set in all three provinces yesterday.

Environment Canada says more than a dozen communities in New Brunswick hit new maximums for the date including St. Stephen at 34.0 C (hot spot in Canada), Fredericton at 33.0 C and both Woodstock and Edmundston at 32.0 C.

While the thermometer reached a record-breaking 30.5 C at the Greater Moncton International Airport, the overall 18 May record for Moncton is 31.7 C from 1918.

In Nova Scotia, new records were set in Greenwood and Kejimkujik Park at 32.0 C while Summerside, Prince Edward Island warmed up to 26.3 C.

Brief heat wave coming

Warm weather in Ontario heading to the Maritimes, 17 May 2017 (TWN)

A high pressure system is pushing warm, southerly air into the Maritimes with highs approaching 30 C tomorrow in New Brunswick.

Environment Canada says humidex values could climb to 39 which has led to a Level 1 Heat Alert for Fredericton and St. Stephen.

The provincial health department issues this alert when anyone vulnerable to the heat may be affected.

Greater Moncton could break a record on Thursday if the temperature reaches the forecast high of 28 C.

St. John River remains above flood stage

Flooding along the St. John River, Fredericton, NB, 07 May 2017 (Instagram)

Much of New Brunswick was spared the worst of a low pressure system which delivered heavy rain and created flooding over the weekend especially along the St. John River.

Environment Canada says the extreme southern half of the province had the most rain with more than 100 mm in some areas and unofficially almost 180 mm (about two months worth) fell in Mechanic Settlement, near Fundy National Park.

Moncton got off relatively easy with 40 mm of rain while Saint John had 70 mm and Fredericton reported 80 mm.

The Emergency Measures Organization says water levels should remain high but steady for the rest of this week with more rain on the way.

Nor’easter not as bad as expected

Snow begins falling in NE Moncton, 14 March 2017 (Dearing)

An intense Nor’easter moved into New Brunswick last night from the U.S.Eastern Seaboard with heavy, wet snow and high winds creating blowing snow and poor visibility.

Snow switched over to rain over southern and central New Brunswick with a
brief period of freezing rain and ice pellets.

Forecasters had originally said up to 45 cm of snow could fall in parts of the province.

Summary of snowfall in centimetres:

Bathurst 30
Kouchibouguac 26
Fredericton 20
Edmundston 18
Moncton 17
Miramichi 16
Saint John 15

Summary of maximum winds in kilometres per hour:

Grand Manan 102
Saint John 102
Miramichi 81
Fredericton 80
Moncton 78
CFB Gagetown 72
Kouchibouguac 61

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Record highs in Eastern Canada

What a difference in one week in downtown Fredericton, 23 Feb 2017 (Facebook)

The weather has been relatively calm lately in New Brunswick and the Maritimes which has been a welcome relief after a string of winter storms earlier this month.

Mild air has pushed into the region which set several record highs yesterday both here and in Southern Ontario.

The Greater Moncton International Airport reached 10 C and it was the warmest temperature since 18 December – just shy of the record of 13.2 from 1981.

But some weather stations in the Moncton area climbed as high as 13 C.

New record highs for 23 February:

Kouchibouguac Nat’l Park 12.4 C

Woodstock, NB 11.9 C

Bathurst 10.5 C

Windsor, ON 19.3 C

London, ON 18.3 C

Toronto Pearson Airport 17.7 C

Another winter storm wallops N.B.

The snowbanks keep getting higher in NW Moncton, 16 Feb 2017 (Facebook)

An intense low pressure system tracked across the Maritimes today bringing heavy snow along with strong northerly winds creating blowing and drifting snow.

Environment Canada says this was the fourth storm system to impact Greater Moncton and Southeast New Brunswick over the last two weeks.

Visibility was often very poor and the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization restricted travel to snow plows and emergency vehicles on many major highways today.

Snowfall totals:

Greater Moncton: 35 cm

Saint John: 25 cm

Fredericton: 20 cm

Charlottetown: 15 cm

Greenwood, NS: 40 cm

Halifax Stanfield Airport: 15 cm

Nor’easter nails Maritimes

Snow plow clearing streets in Moncton, 10 Feb 2017 (Twitter/CityofMoncton)

The latest Nor’easter moved up the U.S. Eastern Seaboard with lots of energy as it headed for the Maritimes.

The winter storm brought heavy snow and strong northeast winds to the region.

Snowfall totals as of midday:

St. Stephen: 38 cm

Greater Moncton: 24 cm

Charlottetown: 24 cm

Fredericton: 23 cm

Saint John: 19 cm

Kentville: 19 cm

Yarmouth: 17 cm

Halifax Stanfield Airport: 15 cm

Messy mix for New Brunswick

Trying to scrape car of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain, NE Moncton, 04 Jan 2017 (Dearing)

Four types of precipitation fell in Southeast New Brunswick in less than 12 hours after a low pressure system over the U.S. Eastern Seaboard tracked into the Maritimes.

Greater Moncton recorded 2 cm of snow/ice pellets, 12 mm of rain and almost 3 hours of freezing rain.

More snow fell in central and northern New Brunswick with 12 cm in Fredericton and 14 cm in Bathurst.

In Nova Scotia, the Halifax Stanfield Airport received almost 30 mm of rain and strong winds gusted to more than 140 km/h over Cape Breton Island.

Consistent snow totals across Maritimes

Halifax Transit bus during a snowstorm, Halifax, NS, 12 Dec 2016 (Twitter)

The cleanup was underway across the Maritimes today after a Colorado Low dropped about 15-25 cm of snow – the same storm delivered similar amounts across Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec yesterday.

The Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia also saw a changeover to rain where temperatures climbed above freezing.

Here are some snow totals in the region:

Saint John  26 cm

Halifax Stanfield Airport  22

Greater Moncton Airport  19

Sydney  18

Charlottetown  14

Yarmouth  13

Fredericton 11

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)