Bitter cold winds fuel provincial weather alerts
Ryan Harding, NTV Weather Centre
Long johns and an extra pair of socks. That’s the advice for Wednesday!
A cold front bringing arctic air by way of a bitter west wind is going to drop the temperature province-wide by Wednesday morning, with the coldest day being felt in Labrador West. Labrador City’s -48 holds the risk of frostbite settling in within 2 minutes of skin being exposed.
Those west winds have to travel over the ocean, which believe it or not, is warmer. The cold arctic air will cause the warmer moisture to rise from the ocean, freeze it into snow, then spit it out across the western and southern portion of the island in the form of snow squalls.
A snow squall alert is in place for South Avalon, Burin Peninsula and parts of the West Coast. The West Coast should expect these squalls to last most of the day for 5-10 cm. It is more about reduced visibility compared to accumulation for the Burin and Avalon Peninsula, mainly impacting the morning commute, with a second wave around 9 pm.
The yellow alert for Labrador West above is, of course, for extreme cold. Meanwhile, the alert on the eastern side of the Northern Peninsula is for wind. The wind is going to start strong on the south side of the island with the potential for coastal areas to hit the 100 km/h mark once again, while the rest of Newfoundland spends Wednesday morning in the 60-80 km/h range. However, that strong wind is going to wrap around to the northern side of the island by the afternoon and increase into coastal Labrador by nightfall. Rigolet has the opportunity to see gusts clip 115 km/h.
The typical low-pressure system returns Thursday, making landfall on the South Coast late morning with warmer, south-wind-fueled, backend bringing an evening transition of rain for the southern and eastern portion of the island. Early snow totals indicate a manageable range of 2-10 cm, with the most found in Central – but there is plenty of runway for that to increase as the system makes it’s way across the country.
