Saturday night was rather messy , with a variety of precipitation types.  As winds picked up and temperatures cooled on Sunday, PEI and parts of Nova Scotia, especially the Cape Breton Highlands, were faced with persisting low visibilities in snow and blowing snow.

 As well, the dropping temperatures solidified some of the slush that fell Saturday night.  This morning, in spite of heading into the last full week of March, it feels downright wintry, with morning wind chills of between minus 20 and minus 30!

The temperatures will moderate this week.  Although, still a bit below normal on Tuesday and Wednesday, sunshine and fairly light winds will result in two very pleasant days. Tuesday and Wednesday will provide some slow melt of the snowpack.  As temperatures continue to warm, spotty precipitation on Thursday may be in the form of showers.  However, on Friday it looks to be a rainy day over much of the Maritimes, with mild temperatures.  This risks to be accompanied by more rapid melt.  You should monitor the forecasts this week, tidy up any drainage areas, and pay attention to any flood advisories by emergency managers as the the week progresses.

Sunday was World Water Day, and this week is Water Week in Canada.  Winter snow cover is an important part of the water cycle; snow being an important source of freshwater for recharging reservoirs, and providing the soil moisture to begin the summer agricultural season.  However, in the Maritimes, we now have an unprecedented snowpack that contains at least 150mm of water in many areas, with some locations in excess of 300mm. This enormous amount of stored water now makes for a flood risk as we move into Spring, and Canada Water Week. Our CoCoRahs (Community Collaborative Rain-Hail-Snow) volunteers need to be thanked for their measurements of the snowpack during this unprecedented winter.

take care and stay safe