Morning briefing: Four things to know about Saturday

Saturday, July 26, 2014, 7:50 AM -

Another summer weekend, and it'll feel like it in most parts of Canada - complete with a few summer storms.

Here's your coast-to-coast breakdown of what to expect in your region.

Atlantic Canada

Yes, St. John's, it really WAS that rainy yesterday.

"St. John's reported more than 30 mm of rain, with 24 mm falling within an hour," Weather Network meteorologist Tyler Hamilton said Saturday morning. "The reason: Some tropical moisture in the system with higher than normal precipitable water values."

There were still some rainfall warnings in effect early Saturday morning for Terra Nova and the Bonavista Peninsula, likely to drop soon, but locally heavy showers are still possible this morning.

The rest of the region is pleasant, with a mix of sun and cloud, but there are several systems developing for early next week that may bring significant amounts of rain to Atlantic Canada.

For Saturday, isolated showers or thunderstorms are possible around the extreme northwest of New Brunswick later in the afternoon.

Ontario

Storms in northern Ontario sparked severe thunderstorm watches and warnings last night, with one warning for the Atikokan area issued as late as 3:16 a.m.

No warnings or watches are now in place, but southern Ontario is in for some potentially stormy weather this weekend.

Today, most precipitation, including thunderstorms, are forecast to enter the Greater Toronto Area by 2 p.m., and Hamilton says mostly non-severe storms should appear after dinner and into the evening.

Sunday will be similar, but there will be more of a widespread chance for severe storms.

Hamilton says the most severe storms from this system should remain on the U.S. side, according to the Storm Prediction Centre.

"Monday is looking showery and unsettled during the first half, with possible clearing late afternoon and early evening," he said.

Prairies

Parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan were under wind and rainfall warnings Friday evening.

Very significant amounts of rain fell on Edmonton and other parts of central and southern Alberta.

Aside from the rain, the strong winds gusted to more than 80 km/h in some cities.

A big cooldown was associated with this system, with Edmonton's high of 13.6^oC nearly 10 degrees below normal.

This weekend, a trough and associated upper low will bring a chance of non-severe storms to a narrow, but quite elongated, swath of the Prairies.

British Columbia

Unlike parts of the Prairies, British Columbia's temperatures were more pleasant Friday.

This week, there will be showers in the north, with fair and seasonal conditions in the south. 

In fact, there could be zero precipitation for Vancouver and much of the south coast for at least the next seven days.

In the early part of next week, an omega block is likely to appear, leading to a stagnant pattern - bad news for air quality due to the province's wildfires.

"Although recent rain has diminished the fire risk in the short term, it will be on the rise by early next week," Hamilton says.

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