Blocking pattern to turn weather unsettled next week
The final weekend of April is upon us, and for most it’s looking great weather-wise.
A ridge of high-pressure will serve up lots of sunshine to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. A general mix of sun and cloud is forecast for Newfoundland and Labrador.
However, a developing low offshore will bring rain chances back into the forecast for eastern Newfoundland on Sunday, and there will be showers chances also moving into New Brunswick.
This marks the beginning of a pattern change that will stick around to close out April and welcome May.
An upper-level ridge in the jet stream will develop over central Canada and connect with another blocking ridge south of Greenland, at times linking together through Atlantic Canada. At the surface we’ll see slow-moving and stalled areas of low-pressure get caught up in the blocking pattern.
Central and eastern Newfoundland should expect the worst from this pattern with periods of rain and drizzle developing as I mentioned later Sunday and Monday, possibly sticking around through mid-week.
Temperatures will remain below normal and could allow wet snow or freezing drizzle to mix at times. Western Newfoundland through Labrador will see greater opportunities for sunshine.
Meantime for the Maritime
provinces, that trough holds offshore, but highpressure won’t hold out some weather fronts and areas of low-pressure approaching to the west. This means varying amounts of sunshine next week, and while not a washout, showers in and out of the forecast.
It looks like the odds of seeing wet weather in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and P.E.I. will be highest late Tuesday and Wednesday, and possibly again late Thursday to Friday.
Temperatures will also be dictated by the position of these systems and how much sunshine we experience. In general, temperatures will be near to above seasonal, but if sunshine prevails it could turn milder for much of the region.
Long-range models hint conditions could remain favourable for this blocking pattern for the first half of May.
We’ll be watching to see just how that influences our weather.