Here comes the rain (and snow) again…

Snow settles in NE Moncton before changeover to rain, 10 Nov 2018 (Dearing)

Without a doubt, it has been a soggy couple of months in Greater Moncton.

More 100 mm of rain – almost a month’s worth – has fallen during the first week of November alone and precipitation was 50 percent above normal in October.

Another low pressure system arrived in the Maritimes this weekend with a mix of rain and snow in New Brunswick.

Several centimetres of snow fell in Greater Moncton and after a changeover to rain as much as 30 mm could fall before it ends later today.

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October 2018 – Cool and wet

View from the Sussex Bluffs, Sussex Corner, NB, 14 Oct 2018 (Dearing)

October 2018 proved to be very different from October 2017 in Southeast New Brunswick.

While it was warm and dry last year in Greater Moncton (the second warmest October since 1881), it was the opposite this year – cool and wet.

Temperatures were below normal with only one day reaching 20°C and a hard frost arrived by mid-month.

Only seven days were dry with three major rainfall events and snow fell on three days – briefly settling on the ground twice.

OCTOBER 2018 ALMANAC (at Greater Moncton Int’l Airport, 1981-2010)

Average HIGH 10.5°C

Average LOW 2.2°C

AVERAGE 6.4°C (about 1.2 degrees BELOW normal)

Extreme HIGH 19.6°C (04 Oct)

Extreme LOW -6.6°C (27 Oct)

RAINFALL 150 mm (estimate; about 40 percent ABOVE normal)

SNOWFALL 6.2 cm (well ABOVE the normal of 1.2 cm)

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

September 2018 – Warm and wet

Black-eyed Susans growing in Upper Hammonds Plains, NS, 21 Sept 2018 (Dearing)

Warm, summer weather picked up in September where it left off in August in Southeast New Brunswick.

But the passage of a cold front marked a drastic temperature drop on the 18th and suddenly it felt like fall in Greater Moncton.

The thermometer continued to plunge and sank to -1.9°C on the 25th with light, scattered frost although most vegetation was spared severe damage.

Precipitation was actually above normal although heavy amounts fell in a handful of rainfalls.

SEPTEMBER 2018 ALMANAC (at Greater Moncton Int’l Airport, 1981-2010)

Average HIGH 20.9°C

Average LOW 7.9°C

AVERAGE 14.4°C (about 0.8 degrees ABOVE normal)

Extreme HIGH 28.9°C (06 Sept)

Extreme LOW -1.9°C (25 Sept)

RAINFALL 100.5 mm (about 10 percent ABOVE normal)

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

August 2018 – Heat continues!

Tall trees in Irishtown Nature Park, 26 August 2018 (Dearing)

A hot July also translated into a hot August in what has to be one of the warmest summers in Southeast New Brunswick since 1940.

In Greater Moncton, the thermometer climbed to 30°C or higher on 6 days during August and never dropped below 18°C during 9 overnights.

Fans, air conditioners and other cooling units sold out at stores across the region and many weren’t able to reorder more.

Although it seemed rather dry, rainfall was actually slightly above average thanks to a single rain event which delivered nearly 60 mm which is 60 percent of the monthly total.

AUGUST 2018 ALMANAC (at Greater Moncton Int’l Airport, 1981-2010)

Average HIGH 26.2°C

Average LOW 14.6°C

AVERAGE 20.4°C (about 2.2 degrees ABOVE normal)

Extreme HIGH 31.6°C (06 Aug)

Extreme LOW 9.7°C (31 Aug)

RAINFALL 100.4 mm (about 20 percent ABOVE normal)

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Heat wave ends

Thundershower as cold front sweeps Greater Moncton, 06 July 2018 (91.9 The Bend)

The passing of a cold front led to showers and thundershowers in Southeast New Brunswick today marking the end of hot, humid weather.

Environment Canada has noted Greater Moncton endured an official heat wave by definition with three straight days of at least 32°C.

The trio of record highs this week:

JULY 3rd : 31.6 C (new), 31.0 C (old record 1984)

JULY 4th : 33.4 C (new), 31.6 C (old record 2013)

JULY 5th : 34.2 C (new), 32.7 C (old record 2013)

The hotspot in New Brunswick on 05 July was a scorching 36.0 C at Miramichi and not far behind was 35.5 C at Kouchibouguac National Park.

As the heat subsides in Eastern Canada, hot weather is building in Western Canada with an impressive record high today of 39.3 C at Val Marie, Saskatchewan.

June 2018 – Cold nights, plenty of rain

Ogilvie Brook, Irishtown Nature Park, 24 June 2018 (Dearing)

Greater Moncton has endured the coolest June in recent memory and while daytime highs were close to normal – with a few exceptions – overnight lows were cold, even frosty at times during the first half of the month.

A hard frost on 04 June with a record breaking low of -3.2 C was devastating for agriculture across New Brunswick especially in the Southeast.

Farmers suffered major damage – in some cases 50 to 80 percent losses – to crops such as grapes, strawberries and blueberries.

Oddly enough, the temperature had not been that low in all of May and not since 16 April had it been at least that cold.

Rainfall was about 60 percent above normal and was confined to a handful of major rain events with nine days being completely dry.

JUNE 2018 ALMANAC (at Greater Moncton Int’l Airport, 1981-2010)

Average HIGH  20.3°C

Average LOW  6.6°C

AVERAGE  13.5°C (about 1.7 degrees BELOW normal)

Extreme HIGH  29.7°C (01 June)

Extreme LOW  -3.2°C (04 June)

RAINFALL  154.0 mm (about 60 percent ABOVE normal)

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Juneuary!

Snow falls in Gander, NL (GNL Highway Cameras)

When it snows in June it might as well be January which gives us a new month called Juneuary!

It may now be summer but an icy rain changed to snow in central Newfoundland and the Cape Breton Highlands today.

Gander set a new record with 2 cm of snow and Environment Canada said it has never snowed on 26 June before.

Thanks to a chilly rain, Greater Moncton reached a daytime high of only 11.0 C yesterday which was colder than the average overnight low of 12 C.

Average temperatures in Southeast New Brunswick have been running about three degrees below normal this month.

Goodbye Spring!

Dorchester Beach, NB, 17 June 2018 (Dearing)

Spring had its inevitable ups and downs in Southeast New Brunswick but overall the average temperature was close to normal for March, April and May.

March was very stormy with a parade of Nor’easters which led to the highest snow depth of the winter in Greater Moncton by the end of the month.

April was slightly colder than normal with chilly nights until mid-month and the last measurable snow fell on the 21st.

May had slightly above normal temperatures overall thanks to 14 days with daytime highs of 20 C or more but nights remained cold with single digit lows.

So far this June, the mean temperature is running three degrees below average with a hard frost on the 4th which was the coldest minimum since 16 April.

METEOROLOGICAL SPRING at the Greater Moncton International Airport

MARCH 2018
Average -1.7 C (1.2 degrees ABOVE normal)
Snowfall: well above normal, Rainfall: well below normal

APRIL 2018
Average 3.2 C (0.3 degrees BELOW normal)
Snowfall: below normal, Rainfall: above normal

MAY 2018
Average 10.3 C (0.3 degrees ABOVE normal)
Rainfall: below normal, Snowfall: nil

They’re back!

Dandelions growing in NE Moncton, 02 May 2018 (Dearing)

Dandelions have made their return to Southeast New Brunswick a little later than usual thanks to a cold spring.

The yellow plants or weeds were spotted today when the temperature climbed to 24.5 C in Greater Moncton – the warmest high so far this year.

The hotspot in New Brunswick was St. Stephen at 29 C and Fredericton was not far behind at 28 C.

But a cold front is pushing through the province which will bring rain and dramatically lower temperatures overnight with single digit highs expected tomorrow.

First 20 C high of the year!

Given the recent stretch of below seasonal temperatures in Southeast New Brunswick, I wasn’t optimistic we would reach 20 C anytime soon.

But yesterday the thermometer climbed to 21.2 C in Greater Moncton marking the first time to reach and surpass that threshold in 2018.

Over the last five years, we have reached 20 C over a two week period from mid-April to early May.

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)