More lamb than lion-like weather welcomes March

Had it not been a leap year, we would be saying that March came in like a lion.

High winds were recorded across most of the region, with significant rainfall and flooding for some and a flash freeze for others. It was cold across the entire region overnight into this morning.

So, is March 2024 coming in like a lion or a lamb? It’s not quite a lion, but not a lamb for everyone either.

While a good portion of the region will see some sunshine, blustery west winds are gusting between 40 and 70 km/h and coupled with colder temperatures, generating onshore flurries with a risk of snow squalls off westfacing coastlines.

This activity is wrapping up for most this morning but will continue until this afternoon and evening over Cape Breton and until later Saturday morning along the south and west coasts of Newfoundland. These locations could see five to 15 cm in the heaviest activity.

A ridge of high pressure will sit offshore on Saturday, and with a return southerly flow will warm our temperatures. This will also help deliver a general mix of sun and cloud to the region.

However, a relatively weak disturbance that will sit along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. is forecast to bring scattered showers and drizzle Saturday night and Sunday for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and southern New Brunswick, and to Newfoundland — mainly the south coasts on Sunday.

Conditions should then improve on Monday, but the overall pattern next week is unsettled as showers and drizzle will be in and out of the forecast. However, sunshine will also be in the mix for the first half of the week as high pressure moves over the region and to our southeast.

There’s then the potential for more widespread unsettled weather mid-to-late next week that will once again involve some wet weather but possibly some snow mixing in for parts of the region. Overall, except for today, temperatures will trend well above normal, with a springlike start to March.