Sometimes, the Weather here in NL is straight up crazy. We've seen many examples of that over the past few weeks alone! However, I have to say last night was particularly unbelievable.  St. John's ends up with only 4 cm, yet just across the Bay, Conception Bay North ends up with 15-20 cm.

 

How does that happen? Well, the Meteorologists at the Gander Weather Office have fittingly coined what happened last night as... the "Pacman Effect".

Basically, a slice of dry air at the low levels of the atmosphere... which was just too stubborn to juice or moisten up. As a result, Metro waited an extra 2 hours to get into the Snowfall. All the while, it was Snowing to beat the band in CBN.

We dodged a bullet for sure... Thanks Pacman, because the 4 cm that fell was heavy enough!!!

 

As mentioned, the Snow certainly fell over the Western Avalon and especially into Central Newfoundland.

 

Terra Nova: 38 cm

Bonavista: 34 cm

Gander: 25 cm

St. John's: 4 cm

 

Gambo: 30 cm

Clarenville: 30 cm

Ochre Pit Cove: 25 cm

St. Alban's: 25 cm

Lawn: 25 cm

Heart's Content: 24 cm

Whitbourne: 20 cm

 

As of Friday Evening we already have Rainfall Warnings in effect for parts of the Southwest Coast. FOR THE LATEST WATCHES/WARNINGS AND FORECAST UPDATES, CLICK ON THE ENVIRONMENT CANADA LINKS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THIS PAGE.

 

We will have a quiet start to the weekend. However the clouds will build in over the course of the day on Saturday and so will the precipitation and winds. The South Coast is really going to take a pounding Saturday night and into Sunday. 50+ mm of Rain & South Southeast Winds Gusting over 100+ km/h... even 120+ km/h for some. Here's are some of the main points.

 

-A quiet Saturday, but Snow will ramp up over Southeastern Labrador and Northwestern Newfoundland on Saturday Afternoon.

 

-At the same time, Snow mixed with Rain will begin along the West Coast, except areas along the Southwest Coast, from Port aux Basques to Ramea where you'll start with just Rain and of course, the Winds will be increasing as well.

 

-The Rain & Wind will spread from Southwest to Northeast across the Island overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning.

 

-Sunday will bring Heavy Snow and strong Winds to HV-GB and the North Coast of Labrador. Churchill Falls will see moderate Snow as well, however Labrador City will escape the worst of this one with only Light Snow.

 

-Southeastern Labrador will see strong Gusty Winds and Snow/Ice Pellets changing to Rain through the day on Sunday... after a solid shot of Snow Saturday night.

 

-For most of the Island... the steadiest Rains & strongest Winds look like they'll be on menu for late Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

 

-Temperatures on Sunday across the Island will be 6-7-8 maybe even double digits for some!!! Here's a look at the GEM Regional Model projections for temperatures on Sunday. 

 

-The Cold front from the system will cross the Island, bringing with it another shot of steady Rain and gusty South Winds, become West Winds as the front passes.

 

-Rain mixes back to Snow in behind the front, along the West Coast of the Island.

 

-The Snow will taper off overnight Sunday in Eastern Labrador, but gusty winds continue into Monday.

 

-The biggest questions marks are just how high Rainfall totals will be along the Southwest Coast of Island. As of now... 60, 70 mm certainly looks possible in some places.

-The Mixing in Southeastern Labrador is another big question. How quickly the change over occurs in places like Cartwright & Mary's Harbour on Saturday night will be key. You folks could certainly have the potential pick up a solid 10-20+ cm shot of Snow. 

-Based on current forecast models (Friday Aft) it looks like Happy Valley-Goose Bay and up the Coast to Makkovik are in store for as much as 20-40 cm of Snow by Monday morning.

 

 

 

-Cold temperatures will be funneling in behind the system, dropping temperatures Monday and into Tuesday across the Island.

 

Ryan