Frosty Night For Parts Of Newfoundland As Long-Live High Settles In
This evening’s forecast is sponsored by:
A large area of high pressure settling over Quebec is about to give Newfoundland and Labrador something we haven’t had much of lately: a long stretch of quiet weather. That high will also act as a block against a potent nor’easter developing to our south, keeping the storm and its impacts away from Atlantic Canada over the next several days.
The bigger story tonight is the temperature. Skies will clear and the breeze will ease, setting up a good radiational cooling night across Newfoundland. With cooler air already in place, patchy frost is likely in several areas by early Wednesday morning.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a frost advisory from the Northern Peninsula east through parts of central Newfoundland to Clarenville and the Bonavista Peninsula. Lows in the advisory area will generally fall between about -1°C and 5°C, with the coldest readings likely shortly before sunrise.
Even outside the advisory area, some patchy frost is possible. That includes a few colder pockets on the west and southwest coasts where temperatures may stay a couple of degrees above freezing at observation height, but colder air settles closer to the ground.
Badger is one of the areas I’ll be watching most closely. Cold air tends to drain into the valley there, and that could allow temperatures to fall to around -1°C or -2°C even while nearby communities stay a few degrees warmer.
Wednesday itself looks very good. Across Newfoundland, expect a mix of sun and cloud with highs generally in the lower to middle teens. It’ll be a little cool, but otherwise a very decent September day.
The quiet pattern really settles in after that. Thursday looks milder, with upper teens showing up in parts of Newfoundland. Friday also looks fairly calm, and while some cloud may return to southern and eastern Newfoundland on Saturday, there is still very little rain showing up in the forecast.
Central Newfoundland, western Newfoundland and the Northern Peninsula all look set for several days of sunshine or at least mainly dry weather.
Labrador looks even milder. Wednesday will bring plenty of sunshine with highs in the middle to upper teens. Temperatures stay mild through the rest of the week, with highs around 18°C in Labrador West Thursday, around 21°C in Happy Valley-Goose Bay Thursday and Saturday, and even lower 20s possible on the north coast.
One thing worth keeping in mind with several dry and sunny days ahead is the fire risk. It does not look especially windy, so we are not dealing with an explosive setup, but dry conditions can still raise the risk somewhat. If you’re having a fire, follow local regulations and use common sense.
The bottom line is simple: after a frosty start Wednesday morning, the rest of the week looks unusually quiet across much of Newfoundland and Labrador.
And for late September, that’s not a bad forecast at all.
