If you don't like the forecast...wait 5 minutes!

I'm sure you've heard the expression "if you don't like the forecast...wait 5 minutes." Well that has been the case this week as the numerical forecast models have not been consistent. We've gone from a sunny weekend outlook, to a rainy one, to a cloudy one, to partly sunny and now...well the latest run on the NAM is showing possible late day rain for Sunday. (I've highlighted the rain and the low in MS Paint...high tech I know). So here is what your local guy (me) is calling for. I think we can expect a bit of sun tomorrow with increasing cloudiness and a few possible showers later in the day. Clearing into Sunday and not a bad day at all. But, looking at this latest forecast run, I would not be surprised if we saw a little rain late in the day. A slight chance and not enough to spoil the weekend. As a forecaster...I'll be happy when this week is done. Enjoy the weekend!

The Big One!

I remember the first time I saw the footage of the great flood of 2004. It was not long after I started my broadcasting career working in Kingston for a radio station that shared studios with CHEX TV’s sister station CKWS. As the footage started to arrive, to air on Kingston’s newscast, it would stop people in their tracks. Over the next few days stories would come into the CKWS newsroom and updates on the situation would air regarding flooded businesses, homes and streets hundreds of kilometers away. It wasn’t just Kingston. Newspapers, television and radio stations across the province, the country and even the world printed or aired stories about this flood. The reason? Aside from the economic damage (over $100m) this flood was just "different" in a lot of ways.

This was no tropical cyclone that tracked in from the Gulf or the Atlantic. This system actually formed over Edmonton and tracked east finally settling in over Peterborough. Fed on the backside by cool, sinking air from the northwest this area of low pressure drew in warm, moist air from the south and over 5 days just saturated the region. It has been estimated that well over 200mm fell in the first five hours of the rain storm. The Trent University weather station recorded over 400mm of rain that July! That is far and above total precipitation values for a given summer. The amount of rain that fell could have filled the Memorial Centre easily 100 times!!! That is a crazy amount of moisture, especially from a system that originated in Alberta.

It was a perfect storm that persisted for days and will be remembered for many years to come. Happy Anniversary Peterborough! You survived one of the worst rain events in Canadian history and likely the worst in Ontario. Working through this disaster was a true testament to the hard working spirit and resilience of this community and is one reason why I am now proud to make Peterborough my home. It should be no surprise that this flood was one of the top ten weather stories issued by Environment Canada in 2004. (Number 4 by the way).

Feel free to share your memories of the flood by leaving a comment on the blog.

Gone With The Wind...

I thought you might enjoy these pics from Lakefield. A big thank you goes out Lucas for snapping some great storm damage shots. Even though we caught a break on Saturday here in Peterborough...other communities across the region were not so lucky. As you can see from the pics below Lakefield was hammered with high winds, heavy rain and hail. Even more severe weather hit Oshawa with a possible tornado touching down there in the Lakeview Park region along the water south of the city. Very scary stuff. (Environment Canada is currently investigating). For the next few days we can expect relatively calm conditions but (yet again) temperatures will be on the cool side. Even though it's not as warm as we'd like it to be, considering what happened over the weekend, I'll be content with cool and clear. Happy Monday!