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.

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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)

Active weather across Eastern Canada

Courtesy Environment Canada, 04 April 2018

Weather warnings are covering Southern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada as a strong low pressure system brings strong winds, heavy rain, snow and freezing rain.

Sudbury picked up 29 cm of snow, four hours of freezing rain fell in Ottawa and Toronto Billy Bishop Airport had a peak wind gust of 98 km/h.

Southeast New Brunswick is the only part of the province not under a weather warning.

Northern New Brunswick could receive 30 cm of snow from this system while central and southwestern portions are under a rainfall warning with up to 35 mm possible.

March 2018 – Stormy!

Whiteout conditions during a winter storm, west end Moncton, 08 March 2018 (Dearing)

Although March came in like a lamb, it behaved like a lion in the days to follow with four Nor’easters over two weeks in Southeast New Brunswick.

The first storm brought 15 cm, the second and third storms each delivered 16 cm and the fourth packed the biggest punch with 30 cm.

By 23 March, the snow cover in Greater Moncton had reached 40 cm which was the heaviest of the winter even though it was already spring.

Temperatures during the first half were mild averaging near the freezing point with brief cold snaps around the middle and near the end of the month.

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

Average HIGH  1.3 C

Average LOW  -4.7 C

AVERAGE  -1.7 C (about 1.2 degrees ABOVE normal)

Extreme HIGH  9.1 C (29 Mar)

Extreme LOW  -15.4 C (26 Mar)

RAINFALL  11.0 mm (almost 80 percent BELOW normal)

SNOWFALL  102.3 cm (about 40 percent ABOVE normal)

(Data courtesy Environment Canada)

Freezing fog!

Freezing fog in Summerside, PEI, 27 March 2018 (Twitter)

Residents of Southeast New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island woke up to freezing fog this morning.

This occurs when water droplets develop during fog and freeze instantly when temperatures are below freezing.

The last three early mornings in Greater Moncton have been below -10°C and have dropped to a near record low of -15.4°C.

With nearly 40 cm of snow on the ground, this is the heaviest cover of white this winter season – keeping in mind this is now early spring.

Nor’easter number four!

Moncton’s west end after the latest Nor’easter, 23 March 2018 (Dearing)

It seems a bit strange the largest single snowfall this winter in Greater Moncton actually occurred on the second full day of spring.

Environment Canada says Southeast New Brunswick hit the snow jackpot from the fourth Nor’easter this month with more than 30 cm recorded.

A storm on 30 January was the previous snowfall event winner with almost 25 cm.

Strong winds were also a factor in this storm gusting at times to 82 km/h.

Here are some other snowfall totals:

• Kentville, NS  24 cm
• Alma, NB  20 cm
• Yarmouth, NS  18 cm
• Sussex, NB  17 cm
• Charlottetown, PEI  12 cm
• Halifax Stanfield Airport, NS  11 cm
• Bathurst, NB  8 cm
• Saint John, NB  6 cm