While it will be no Olympian battle, Old Man Winter and the sun will be battling it out for domination in Canada throughout the early part of March, says The Weather Network in their just-released monthly forecast available on www.theweathernetwork.com.
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"March is typically one of winter's final opportunities to produce a substantial storm as we transition from a colder to warmer temperature regime," says Ron Bianchi, head of meteorology at The Weather Network.
"But as we approach spring and the sun moves to a higher position in the sky, its rays become stronger and more direct," adds Bianchi.
"We call this solar loading and it means that it will be difficult for winter to maintain any type of firm grip on the country."
Temperature-wise, Bianchi expects that the first two weeks of March will be colder than normal for much of the country. He says a new outbreak of cold Arctic air will emerge bringing cooler than normal temperatures to the interior of British Columbia and the northern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
The forecast obviously proved correct for the City of Greater Sudbury as we were hit with another major winter storm this past weekend with almost 40 centimetres of snow falling across most of the region Saturday and Sunday.
"March arrived with a fresh outbreak of winter-like temperatures for much of the country. But this will be short-lived and warmer weather will return to most regions during the second half of the month," says Bianchi.
Precipitation-wise, Bianchi expects that the first two weeks of March will be wetter than normal in southern British Columbia and the interior, eastern Ontario, southern Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
"For the first part of March we're likely to see an increase in storms develop off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard which will move towards the Great Lakes and exit through the Maritimes.
"This is typically normal for March and it will mean some areas in the East can catch up a little bit if they've had a dry winter," explains Bianchi. "But overall dry conditions will continue to dominate throughout March and will continue to be this year's major weather story."
For more cross-Canada details on The Weather Network's March forecast, visit the monthly and seasonal forecast section on www.theweathernetwork.com.
