Friday Starts Quietly, But Rain And Snow Return By Evening To Much Of NL
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A lot of people have been asking why rainbows seem to be showing up so often lately, so let’s start there before getting into the weekend forecast.
Rainbows happen when sunlight passes through raindrops and the droplets act like tiny prisms, breaking the light into its colours. For your eyes to see one, you need to be standing with the sun behind you and the rain in front of you. It also has to be within a few hours of sunrise or sunset, because that’s when the sun is low enough to shine underneath the clouds. Recently, we’ve had a lot of sun–shower combinations at exactly the right time of day. Another piece of the puzzle is the size of the raindrops: larger droplets tend to create brighter, more vivid rainbows. Over the last week or so, we’ve had a lot of those bigger droplets, which has helped produce these brilliant arcs. When droplets are very small — like in fog — you get a whitish, faint “fog bow.” And once we’re dealing with ice crystals instead of droplets, the rainbow window closes and you’ll see halos (think circles around the sun) instead.
As for tonight, eastern Newfoundland may still have a few leftover showers, and if they happen to line up with the low evening sun, the rainbow trend could continue. Labrador, meanwhile, is heading into a cold night with lows near –8°C in the west. St. John’s will fall to around 2°C, with slightly colder readings just outside the city.
Tomorrow morning will start off dry and sunny across much of Newfoundland. Yesterday I said Friday was looking beautiful — and it still starts that way — but the forecast has shifted a bit. By afternoon or evening, rain begins to push into the Burin Peninsula and the South Coast, then gradually spreads north. Labrador sees snow arriving in the west by the supper hour.
Tomorrow night into Saturday brings a messy mix for parts of central and western Newfoundland, where some areas may see rain changing to wet snow, or even a little freezing rain inland and over higher terrain. Labrador sees snow becoming widespread through the early-morning hours Saturday, lasting into early afternoon before tapering off.
Snowfall totals in Labrador through Saturday evening look to range from 5–15 cm for Goose Bay, Churchill Falls, and Lab West. Nain down to Hopedale will likely see about 5–10 cm, while Cartwright is more in the 2–5 cm range. On the Island, not much accumulation is expected before Saturday night, with the exception of the highest terrain of the Long Range Mountains and parts of Green Bay/White Bay, where 5–10 cm is possible.
That’s just the first round. A second system develops off Nova Scotia Saturday evening and heads our way. This one brings rain into southeastern Newfoundland late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. There’s a chance central Newfoundland — mainly inland and west of the Bay d’Espoir Highway — could see a brief period of wet snow with this one as colder air feeds in behind the developing low. Heavier rain looks likely across the Avalon early Sunday, but it moves out quickly by midday. The winds with this system don’t look particularly noteworthy compared to other fall systems we’ve seen.
Looking at the probability guidance for snowfall, most of Newfoundland has only a modest chance of more than a couple centimetres, with much higher odds confined to the Northern Peninsula and Long Range Mountains. The likelihood of seeing more than 7 cm is low for most areas, which reinforces this not being a major snow event overall — though yes, some places will definitely see some accumulation.
Temperatures this weekend stay mild across eastern Newfoundland, with highs of 8–9°C Saturday and Sunday. Labrador will see snow on Saturday, followed by a quieter Sunday with highs around 1–2°C along the coast.
There’s also been a lot of talk lately about the polar vortex and a sudden stratospheric warming event that could disrupt it. The polar vortex is a pool of cold air high above the Arctic that sits there every winter — it’s nothing new. When it’s strong, the cold air stays locked in place. When it weakens, the jet stream can wobble and allow much colder air to spill farther south. While this pattern shift is expected later in November or early December, it’s still unclear where exactly the coldest air will end up. North America is one candidate, but so is Europe or Asia. At the moment, the next 10 days don’t show any significant cold arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador. After that, things may turn colder, depending on how the pattern evolves.
If you made it all the way through — thank you! I’ll have your next update tomorrow morning. And as always, keep sending in those weather photos.
I’ll have my next update posted over the weekend.
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