Late-winter blast blankets Fort Erie
Posted By T.J. Goertz
Posted 9 days ago
Snowed in.
If there were a theme for the winter season of 2007-2008, that would have to be it.
After last weekend's 30-plus centimetre dumping of snow, residents of Fort Erie are likely shaking their heads in astonishment.
Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, says Fort Erie may have actually had a bit less snow than its neighbours elsewhere in Niagara. While actual figures for Fort Erie are unavailable, Port Colborne, straight down Highway 3, is host to an Environment Canada weather station. Coulson said that location recorded about 28 centimetres of snow, but he suspected a few more centimetres would be added to the total.
Up the canal in Welland, urban dwellers experienced nearly 50 centimetres of snow. Snowfall amounts varied across Ontario, with locations in Toronto rangingfrom 30 to 40 centimetres, Kitchener laying under 40 centimetres, and Ottawa struggling to figure out what to do after a massive 52 centimetre dumping.
How does this compare to last year?
"We looked at some of the numbers, especially in the Niagara Peninsula and around Toronto. I believe Toronto only had 63 centimetres all of last winter. They're now sitting at 191 centimetres and counting. I would imagine the numbers would come out very similar for the Fort Erie area," Coulson said.
The good news, at least for Fort Erie, appears to be that Niagara is going to have a slightly better forecast than the rest of Ontario in the coming weeks.
"We are starting to see temperatures a little bit milder, a little bit above freezing on a more regular basis," Coulson said.
That doesn't mean the snow is over yet. Temperatures will continue to be well below normal, Coulson said. Normal highs for the middle of March are around four degrees Celcius. He said forecast models for next week show a cooling trend.
"Daytime highs may struggle to get much above freezing," said Coulson, adding Fort Erie should expect at least two more storm systems before winter lets up.
"The way we've been describing it is the 'Death by a Thousand Snowflakes.' We're just going to keep adding to the very snowy winter of 2007-2008," he said.
"If you could find a sheltered place, in the sun but out of the wind, you could close your eyes and almost imagine that spring's just around the corner. The only issue you've got is that when you open your eyes, the snow banks are still there," Coulson said. |
