Furnace Friday

Forecast highs in the UK for 27 July 2018 (Met Office)

The British, like Canadians, often give names to extreme weather events and ‘Furnace Friday’ is a fine example.

Meteorologists were expecting the all-time heat record of 38.5 C from 2003 would fall yesterday but thunderstorms rolled through and cooled things down.

Nevertheless, the UK Met Office reports a maximum of 34.7 C at Tibenham Airfield, Norfolk while it reached 35.3 C in Faversham, Kent – the hottest high of 2018 so far.

The heat wave has turned grass brown, triggered water restrictions, disrupted rail services and prompted a warning from officials to stay out of the sun.

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Heat warning!

Bouctouche Dunes coastline, NB, 01 July 2018 (Dearing)

Record highs could be broken in Greater Moncton over the next couple of days if forecast highs in the low to mid 30s C are reached on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Environment Canada has issued a rare heat warning for New Brunswick, mainland Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island with cooler conditions along the coast.

A warm, humid airmass is expected to push humidex values about 40 during the day and barely falling below 18 C at night – dangerous levels for those susceptible to heat.

Forecasters believe warm, humid weather will persist until later this week when a cold front brings temperatures closer to normal for the weekend.

Ontario heat!

It felt more like mid-spring than late winter across Southern Ontario today.

A mild air mass combined with strengthening February sunshine to set new record highs in the region.

Environment Canada reports April-like maximums for 28 February:

• Sarnia,  16.8 C, old record 15.1 C from 2016
• Toronto Pearson Airport,  16.2 C, old record 14.0 C from 2016
• Windsor,  16.1 C, old record 13.6 C from 2017
• London,  15.1 C, old record 14.2 C from 2016
• Kitchener-Waterloo,  15.0 C, old record 12.4 C from 2016

Ontario warmth heading East!

Record-breaking warmth in S’rn #Ontario today, up to 17.6°C in St. Catharines! This is what’s coming over the #Maritimes tomorrow! #ONwx #Toronto pic.twitter.com/m889pgnwJY

— Patrick Duplessis (@Pat_wx) February 21, 2018

Snow vanishes!

Bare ground in west end Moncton after rain washes away snow cover, 24 Jan 2018 (Dearing)

The snow cover in Greater Moncton has disappeared after the latest storm system rolled through with mixed precipitation and mild temperatures.

Rainfall amounts varied from 20 to 70 mm across New Brunswick, up to 8 hours of freezing rain fell in Gagetown and 20 cm of snow was recorded in Bathurst and Edmundston.

Record highs for 23 January were set in Saint John at 10.4 C and St. Stephen reached 11.3 C.

Since a consistent snow cover began on 09 December in Southeast New Brunswick, the ground has been bare a couple of times for short periods.

January all-time highs!

Extremely warm temps across the #Maritimes today, up to an astounding 19°C in #Greenwood & #Cheticamp! Never been that warm in January for all those in red! #Moncton #NSstorm #MeteoNB #PEstorm pic.twitter.com/phJ12pEfMF

— Patrick Duplessis (@Pat_wx) January 13, 2018

Before a cold front swept through the Maritimes, all-time record January highs were set across the region yesterday including 16.7 C at Greater Moncton International Airport.

New Brunswick’s all-time January high was set in Sussex at 17.3 C, narrowly beating the previous provincial record of 17.2 C in Moncton from 08 January 1930.

Nova Scotia’s all-time January record was set yesterday in Greenwood at 19.0 C followed closely by Cheticamp at 18.9 C while on Prince Edward Island, Summerside hit a new monthly high of 13.8 C and St. Peters reached a provincial high of 17.8 C.

Environment Canada says while the latest storm delivered almost 28 mm of rain in Moncton, more than a month’s worth fell in Mechanic Settlement at 128 mm and Bouctouche at 98 mm.

The peak wind gust was clocked in Saint John at 96 km/h.

Western NB gets drenched

~20mm of rain overnight in #Halifax, up to 44mm down the coast. Not nearly as much as SW #NewBrunswick but still significant. #NSwx #NSstorm pic.twitter.com/5QLEhoUUo1

— Patrick Duplessis (@Pat_wx) October 27, 2017

A slow moving frontal system brought heavy rain to western New Brunswick with about 20 mm falling per hour in the southwest.

Environment Canada reported 174 mm of rain in St. Stephen over a two day period which is a shocking amount considering about 180 mm fell from June to September.

Other amounts include 112 mm in Edmundston, 93 mm in Woodstock and 74 mm in Fredericton.

Rainfall totals were much lower in Southeast New Brunswick where only 27 mm fell at the Greater Moncton International Airport.

Tropical air with this system broke more record highs in Atlantic Canada with a maximum of 23.4 C in Moncton and Bouctouche, 23.5 C in Cheticamp, 22.0 C in Deer Lake and 21.2 C in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Rain is welcome relief

Autumn 2017 – Abnormally dry (YELLOW), Moderate drought (TAN), courtesy Agriculture Canada

Central New Brunswick is experiencing a moderate drought while much of the rest of the province is abnormally dry except for the Acadian Peninsula according to Agriculture Canada.

Forecasters say two weather systems could bring as much as 100 mm of rain on Thursday and Friday which is welcome relief for a prolonged dry period which began in early summer.

Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings for western and southern New Brunswick but the Southeast is expecting less than 40 mm.

Meantime, more record highs were broken across the Maritimes today as southerly air continued to push temperatures well into the 20’s C.

Late October heat wave

Along the Riverfront Trail in Moncton, 21 October 2017 (Dearing)

Nine communities across New Brunswick set new record highs yesterday and the same will likely happen again today.

Greater Moncton was the warmest spot in the province climbing to 23.1 C which broke the old maximum temperature of 22.8 C from 1928.

Greenwood was among six communities in Nova Scotia breaking records with a high of 24.5 C.

Four records fell on Prince Edward Island including Charlottetown at 21.7 C.

Environment Canada says the Maritimes is enjoying a late October heat wave because the region is sandwiched between low pressure and high pressure allowing warm, southerly air to move northward.

Heavy rain, wind after record highs

Tree downed in key intersection of downtown Moncton, 09 June 2017 (Wade Perry/Twitter)

A low pressure system moved into the Maritimes today bringing up to 40 mm of rain to Greater Moncton.

A strong thunderstorm also rolled through Southeast New Brunswick in the early evening with wind speeds clocked as high as 102 km/h.

The brief but powerful gusts downed trees and branches onto power lines and caused thousands of power outages.

Environment Canada had not issued any weather warnings for the region.

The storm replaced a warm air mass which set record highs in at least four New Brunswick communities yesterday.

The hotspot was Kouchibouguac National Park which climbed to 32 C and that beats the maximum from 1992.

Moncton and Doaktown both tied their record highs of 30.6 C for the date.