Hey Folks,

 

Well what an end to October! This month that has been, as expected, well warmer than normal across much of the Island. However over the past few days, it's been more like Fogtober for St. John's, Gander and much of the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland.

Through Tuesday... St. John's, Gander & Deer Lake's average temperatures are all 2.5° to 2.6° warmer than normal this month. Daily highs this month, have been 2.2° to 2.3° warmer than normal!

However thanks to the past few days, we're now up to over 100 hours of Fog, with visibility at 1 km or less at YYT this month. As Brian Walsh pointed out, that now puts this month as the 2nd Foggiest October on record.

 

The good news is, we are slowly 'coming out of the fog', so to speak, along the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland. An area of High pressure to the Northeast is sinking to the South and that's going to ease the relentless Northeasterly flow. Winds will slowly become South Southeasterly through Wednesday which will certainly help improve the fog forecast.

 

 

Overall, Wednesday will be a half decent day across the Province. South/Southeasterly Winds will be dominate, keeping temperatures mild. The clouds will be building in from the West as the remnants of Sandy work into NL. 

For the kiddies heading out to Trick or Treat: Between 5 pm & 8pm, the best chance of seeing rain will be from Labrador City/Wabush to Churchill Falls to the North Coast of Labrador as a front works in. Along the North Labrador Coast, that rain will begin mixing with wet snow before midnight. With an onshore flow, there is also a chance of drizzle along the South Coast of the Island including the Burin Peninsula. There is a slight chance 30-40% for some drizzle along the Southern Shore and into St. John's Metro. Some fog patches will also be developing, which will add to the spookiness, but also the danger. If you're driving, take your time and have a look for the kids.

Temperatures will be in the 7° to 9° range for much of the NL in that 5pm to 8pm time frame. Just 1° to 3° along the North Coast of Labrador.

 

I'll have another update tonight on Here & Now.. around 6:35 to 6:40, with your official Halloween Forecast!

 

 

As mentioned above, the rain moving into Labrador on Wednesday/Wednesday night and into Newfoundland through the day on Thursday will be the remnants of Sandy. Sandy as you all know, was a truly a Super Storm. It made landfall as a powerful Post Tropical Storm in NJ last evening with a central pressure of 940 mb! That's the lowest pressured storm ever to make landfall North of the Cape Hatteras. Between the Storm itself and the destruction it's leaving behind, Sandy will certainly go down in history as one of the biggest storms ever to hit the Northeast US.  

I've been sending out some cool Satellite pictures and information on Twitter and Facebook the last couple of days, but this one below is one of the most impressive. This movie is from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This is a Rapid Scan Satellite loop which show Hurricane Sandy from Sunrise to Sunset on Oct 29th. I takes a few seconds to load, but it's totally worth the wait! 

 

For us, Sandy (or what's left of it) will be nothing significant. By the time the system rolls in here, it will be a regular old Fall system. We are looking at some rain and some breezy winds, but nothing we haven't seen before... especially this time of year.

 

Here's a look at the GFS Long Range Forecast model which runs through until Saturday.

As you can see, we're looking at a damp and breezy end to the week and into the Weekend, all thanks to Sandy and it's remnants.

 

What happens beyond the weekend and into next week, is still a little in question. Forecast models are all hinting at a strong push of Cold air into NL, as Sandy departs to the Northeast. As that cold air sinks in, forecast models are also suggesting at a stormy pattern, with 1 or 2 more systems approaching from the Southwest. Really complicating things will be the continued Blocking High over Greenland. Currently, the models really can't figure out how strong it will be... and that will be huge factor in how things play out.

 

I think either way, it should be an 'interesting' week... but it always is in NL!

 

I'll keep you posted.

Ryan