Snow Joke: Wet snow forecast for parts of Atlantic Canada this weekend
Springtime snow isn’t uncommon, with measurable snow often recorded in April and sometimes in May for parts of the region.
However, the thought of it or dealing with it at this time of year is another story.
While it’s been warm enough for precipitation to fall as rain showers for most over the last couple of days, there is cooler air aloft, and a northerly flow has allowed accumulating wet snow and flurries to fall in parts of New Brunswick and Labrador.
And the chances for wet snow and flurries will expand into the rest of the region this weekend.
That stalled low, which has been sitting over the Maritimes, will start to move southeast and absorb into a secondary low-pressure area and stall near Newfoundland and Labrador this weekend.
Winds will shift to a northerly direction for the Maritimes and parts of Newfoundland throughout the day today and through the weekend. This means any rain showers could mix or change to wet snow or flurries if cool enough.
While the entire region has the chance of seeing flakes flying, it’s more likely to happen in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, in Nova Scotia through the Annapolis Valley, North Shore and northern Cape Breton and western Newfoundland along with Labrador.
How much snow? That’s a tough call. Snowfall forecasting is a challenge at this time of year because the ground air temperatures are much warmer. Much of the snow should melt on contact, but any heavy or persistent snow could certainly accumulate.
The positive is that any accumulation won’t stick around long, and warmer temperatures return for many of us next week.