Ready or not, June snow is on the way for Newfoundland
St. John’s has only recorded measurable snow 18 times during the month of June
Happy meteorological summer! It’s going to snow.
An unseasonably chilly pattern draped over Atlantic Canada will put the ingredients in place for a dollop of snow overnight Sunday into early Monday, likely starting the month with a rare dose of measurable snow in places like St. John’s.
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Snow in June is unusual but not unprecedented
We’re stuck in this pattern courtesy of an unusually cold upper-level trough that’s trapped across Newfoundland and Labrador. Meanwhile, a centre of low pressure will pass well south of the Avalon Peninsula early Monday, helping kick off a round of precipitation.
Periods of wet snow will begin overnight Sunday and through pre-dawn hours, peaking into Monday morning across the Avalon.
Snowfall accumulations will be highly localized and dependent on factors such as:
Precipitation intensity
Elevation above sea level
Local temperature conditions
Northeasterly winds of 30-60 km/h will help to keep temperatures hovering between 0-1°C during the heaviest wet snowfall.
Locally, more than 5 cm of snow may pile up under ideal conditions across higher terrain.
The periods of wet snow will ease later Monday afternoon.
Chilly conditions rank among coldest on record in June
Monday’s forecast high of just 2°C at St. John’s Airport will make this one of the site’s coldest June days on record.
Right now, the airport’s three coldest days on record include a 1.1°C high on June 10, 1975, a reading of just 1.7°C on June 7, 1974, and a temperature of 2.2°C on June 6, 1991.
How rare is June snow in Newfoundland?
Observers have recorded measurable snow at St. John’s Airport just 18 times between June 1 and June 13 over the years.
The last time we saw measurable June snow in St. John’s was almost five years ago when 2.2 cm fell on June 10, 2021. The month’s biggest snowfall hit on June 10, 1959, with a whopping total of 13.5 cm.
June snowfall is more common in Gander. The community has seen 50 documented cases of measurable June snowfall, the largest of which was a 21.8 cm wallop that hit on June 7, 1974.
But nobody tops Nain, where a staggering 36.1 cm of snow fell on June 1, 1997, to kick off meteorological summer.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across the region.