An odd Father’s Day weekend promises unusual snows and high heat
A wavy weekend jet stream will bring unusually robust snow for some, while covering others in a solid dose of misplaced summer heat
Some folks across the country hoping to enjoy the Father’s Day weekend outdoors might see June on the calendar and step into March once they head out the door.
An active pattern setting up over Canada this weekend is set to drop summertime snows for portions of the West, while a solid dose of misplaced heat begins to build over the middle of the country.
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The upper-level pattern scooting into place to honour dad this weekend looks to bring comfort or confusion, depending on which end of the setup he falls under.
Chilly and snowy in the West
A large trough swooping in from the Pacific will blanket the western provinces with below-seasonal temperatures and generally unsettled conditions this weekend.
Temperatures will fall so far below seasonal, in fact, that we’re breaking out the snowfall accumulation maps again as we round the curve into the second half of June.
We’ll see overnight lows fall below freezing for many high-elevation locations throughout British Columbia and Alberta, allowing rain to change over to a wintry mix and even straight-up snow on Saturday and Sunday.
Freezing levels will fall unusually low during this event, which will affect campers, hikers, and travellers hoping to take in the mountain scenery this weekend. Between the snow and the unseasonably chilly conditions, pack some warm clothes if you’re heading to areas like Banff or Jasper.
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Since the sun is very near its annual high point in the midday sky, any snow accumulation is certain to linger on borrowed time, with solar radiation seeping through the cloud cover to warm up paved surfaces and gradually chomp away at the freshly fallen snow.
Misplaced warmth bathes communities up north
One atmospheric extreme begets another, and the unusually potent trough dipping into Western Canada will send an equally stout ridge soaring over parts of Manitoba and Ontario starting this weekend.
Air tends to sink beneath upper-level ridges, warming up and drying out as it descends toward the ground.
That sinking air will bring about an impressive stretch of hot temperatures for portions of Manitoba and northern Ontario beginning this weekend.
Moosonee, Ont., will come within a hair of reaching the 30-degree mark on the big day Sunday, followed by several days of high temperatures climbing into the lower 30s.
Folks just east of the ridge will miss out on the summer-like warmth, but it’s not all for naught. While folks in Moosonee spend their afternoons looking for ways to cool off, much of southern Ontario will bask under sunny skies and temperatures hovering right around seasonal for the middle of June. Communities near Lake Ontario might see highs come in a touch cooler with a light breeze off the water.
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Raw, rainy Sunday on tap for the Maritimes
The effects of our wavy weekend jet stream will ripple into Atlantic Canada this weekend, bringing a dreadfully raw and rainy Sunday to much of the Maritimes.
A low-pressure system developing over New England on Saturday will gradually push into Nova Scotia on Sunday, spreading its rain over the province early in the day before extending its reach to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island by Sunday afternoon.
Showers could begin to push into southern Newfoundland by Sunday night.
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Cooler-than-normal temperatures will accompany the rain as this system moves through the region on Sunday. Halifax, N.S., Moncton, N.B., and Charlottetown, P.E.I., are all expecting an afternoon high in the mid-teens on Sunday, a far cry from seasonal highs in the lower 20s by this point in June.