An active pattern continues churning across Canada this weekend as a budding low-pressure system prepares for a cross-country adventure.
This system will touch all ten provinces through early next week as it starts in the Gulf of Alaska and gradually works its way toward the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Rain, snow, and gusty winds are all in the cards along the system’s track.
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Saturday: The storm starts in B.C.
We’ll watch the storm begin its nationwide trek in British Columbia on Saturday morning, bringing widespread rain to lower elevations and snow to the alpine regions. Freezing levels will sit around 2300 m this weekend.
While folks across B.C.’s South Coast can expect to see some rain from this event, the heaviest precipitation will fall along western Vancouver Island, where rainfall warnings are in effect for totals of 75-100 mm by Sunday. Some flurries are also possible in the B.C. Interior.
Sunday: Heavy snow on the Prairies
As we head into Sunday, this low-pressure system will track across the Rockies and transition into an Alberta clipper, bringing widespread snow from Saskatchewan to northwestern Ontario.
The heaviest accumulations are likely along the Yellowhead Highway from Saskatoon to Winnipeg, where 10-20 cm of snow is expected late Saturday night and into the day Sunday.
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We’ll see the axis of heavy snow shift into northwestern Ontario on Sunday afternoon and continue through the first half of Monday.
Warmer air on the south side of the system could bring mixed precipitation to southern portions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba near the international border.
Monday: Milder air filters into Ontario
This storm will push into Ontario to start the new workweek, bringing a bit of relief to parts of southern Ontario that have been hammered by snow squalls for much of the past week.
Cold air over northern Ontario will allow precipitation to fall as snow. But the clipper will also force a surge of warmer air to filter north of the border and blow over southern Ontario, bringing above-freezing temperatures and plain old rain to the region.
Tuesday: Quebec and Atlantic Canada feel the storm
Snow that started pushing into Quebec on Monday will continue into the start of Tuesday. The system will pull away from the province during the day Tuesday and become a thorn in Atlantic Canada’s side.
We’ll see the system bring a swath of snow through the Maritimes, with precipitation switching over to rain for southern areas as milder air rushes in.
Precipitation will then push into western Newfoundland with flurries followed by rain. Heavier rain will move into Atlantic Canada with a fresh, new system hot on its heels.
All told, the storm will have travelled more than 5,500 km from one coast to the other.