If New England Isn't Snowy Enough For You, Try Buried Newfoundland

A ridiculous amount of snow on the ground
in St. John's Newfoundland after a 
month of record snowfalls. 

People in much of New England can be forgiven if they're not happy with the one, two or even three feet of snow on the ground at the cusp of March. 

If you want really big snow, head up to Newfoundland.

As the Toronto Star reports:

"Eastern Newfoundland has been pounded by series of storms that self so much snow, residents were posting on social media looking for help getting out of their homes and driveways. On Wednesday, some of the snow piles lining driveways in Paradise were as tall as houses."

THE STATS

As of yesterday, St. Johns, Newfoundland had received 178.2 centimeters, or 70.2 inches of snow in February. That's almost six feet of snow. 

This breaks the record for snowiest month on record, which had been 173  (68.1 inches) centimeter in December, 2000. The previous snowiest February, which was 170 centimeters or 66.9 inches back in February, 2006.  

February's snow in St. John's was relentless. The Weather Network reported on Friday: :

"St. John's Airport has recorded measurable snow on 22 out of 26 days so far this moth. Six of those days witnessed 10+ cm  (3.9 inches) of snowfall, with Feb. 2 notching 43.6 cm (17.2 inches of accumulation alone."

St. John's has had 385 centimeters  (151.6 inches) of snow so far this winter.  On average, they can expect another 98 centimeters (38.6 inches) of snow between and when summer finally arrives. 

If there is a bright side, St. John's is very unlikely to have a record snowy winter. That title belongs to 2000-01 with 648 centimeters (255.1 inches). 

Gander, Newfoundland has had 446 centimeters (175.6 inches) of snow so far this winter As of yesterday 109 centimeter (42.9 inches) of it was still on the ground.  

LIFE IN THE SNOW

St. John's has a population of about 110,000, with a total of 212,000 in the overall metro area up there. The city is used to snowy winters, but February, as noted above, has been insane.

Social media from St. John's was full of images of snow stacked against doors to the point people couldn't leave their homes; 

We saw how cities like Providence, Rhode Island and Fall River,Massachusetts had trouble finding places to put the three plus feet of snow they were clearing fron streets. It's exponentially worse in Newfoundland. 

St. Johns just recently got permission to dump snow in its harbor, which is usually big no-no due to environmental concerns. Normally, snow can be pushed off many streets onto lawns, where it will melt in the spring. 

But there's no more room to put snow aside like that. St. John's  has to do the tedious job of hauling it away to the harbor or snow dumps in and near the city. 

The work is expensive too.  St. John's has signed snow removal contracts to the tune of at least $3.5 million.

 Videos:

The snow in St. John's is insane, as you can see by this news clip. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Another news report from Newfoundland. I'm getting a backache just watching everybody shovel snow onto snowbanks nearly twice as tall as they are.  Again, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below click on that. 

And let's take a drive though the town of Paradise, near St. John's after the storms. Also some drone shots to add perspective. As always click on this link or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Atlantic Canada Being Blasted By Repeated Big Storms

One forecast depiction of an intense bomb cyclone
expected to hit Newfoundland on Tuesday. This storm will
blast the coastline up there with near hurricane force gusts.

 The most intense in a series of strong storms is about to blast parts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland with wild gales, torrential rains and battering waves on the coast. 

We told you last week about a dip in the jet stream that has roughly centered itself in or near Quebec. 

The position of this dip allows storms to develop near the United States coast and then intensify as they move northeast into Canada. 

A nor'easter was developing off the North Carolina coast today. It will move north and east, well off the New England coast. 

Meanwhile, a separate system, with a cold front that will give us in Vermont a spate of showers this afternoon and tonight, is heading east. 

The two storms will team up, and the nor'easter will explode into that intense storm. Waters off the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are way warmer than normal for this time of year. The warm water will add fuel for the storm and make it especially intense.   

The storm should blow past the eastern tip of Nova Scotia early Tuesday then smack into Newfoundland during the day. 

Though it will be a fairly compact storm, the barometric pressure at its center could go down to as low as 944 millibars or 27.88 inches of mercury, a sign of particularly powerful storm. 

As a result, parts of eastern Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on Tuesday can expect wind gusts as high as 68 mph and up to three inches of rain. . Environment Canada has issued wind warnings for the areas that will be hit by the storm. 

Huge waves will batter the coastlines. Environment Canada has also issued coastal flood alerts for parts of Newfoundland. The wind and rain warnings might well be extended into Nova Scotia. 

The Maritime provinces of Canada are now caught in a stormy pattern, thanks to the weather pattern that centers that southward push of the jet stream in or near Quebec. 

The storm that brought decent rains to us in Vermont last Friday intensified further and brought high winds and heavy rain to Maritimes. Up in Canada, the rain got a boost from the remnants of Hurricane Melissa passing by just offshore of Newfoundland. 

Three more storms between Wednesday and next Monday will be beginning to develop near us here in Vermont, giving us light to moderate amounts of precipitation. 

Several weather models indicate each of these storms will become powerful once they head up toward Newfoundland. They might not be as strong as the one that will hit Tuesday, but will still stir things up with more potentially damaging winds and a flood risk.