Workweek Outlook: Deep snow - a new November trend?

In the new norm of changing climate and extreme weather, the Sault could see more snow depth in November. Once the snow ends early this week, we should count at least 20-30cm of snow on the ground. Keep in mind the 30-year average is 2cm at the end of a 'normal' November.

Now consider that two of the last three Novembers have counted over 20cm of snow on the ground at the end of the month and are on record for the most snow at the end of November in the last generation. Remember that often, we count only a trace of snow at the end of this month.

Beautiful Lake Superior could be part of the problem. Early winter brings the open waters across the lake, and when frigid air blows across the lake, we see snow squall activity.  In recent years, we appear to swing more wildly between extremes in temperatures - making the possibility of early winter cold snaps more likely.  Therefore increasing our chance of deep early-season snow.

We will see these conditions develop early this week across the Sault region. Cold, gusty northwest winds return on Monday with strong snowsqualls that could bring 15-25cm of new snow by day's end. Daytime highs only reach -2°C, and windchill values will be below -10 all day. Another 15-25cm is possible by the time it ends tonight for the usual snowbelts off Lake Superior.

Afternoon temperatures will only reach -3°C on Tuesday under partly cloudy skies. West winds will lighten a bit, but windchill values will still be near -10. We could see a few weaker squalls during the day.

Wednesday and Thursday will be mostly cloudy, with a few sunny breaks and daytime highs near +3°C.

A north wind returns on Friday to drop temperatures back to near the freezing mark.