The next week or so.

Short post.  All I've got time for.

Rapid freeze happening.  Temp is dropping relatively fast (14 degrees in the last 12 hours) plus wind equals freezing puddles and crusty snow.
We'll have cold temps for the next week or so with scattered flurries here and there as the first couple of weak clippers largely miss us to the south.   Next systems of significance is next weekend...but that is more than a week away so we'll see.

Amazing Lake Effect Snow Radar

Composite (Canadian and American combined) radar image of the snow squalls as of 11 AM.

Latest warning from Env. Can.

Ottawa North - Kanata - Orléans
2:54 PM EST Tuesday 29 January 2013
Freezing rain warning for
Ottawa North - Kanata - Orléans continued

Freezing rain expected to develop late this afternoon and tonight.

An area of low pressure over the mid west states is expected to bring rain and freezing rain over portions of south Central and Eastern Ontario.

At 3 PM radar is indicating little in the way of organized precipitation over the warned area. However a northward moving warm front is expected to generate bands of precipitation this evening which will fall as freezing rain as temperatures remain below the freezing mark.

The warm front will finally pass through the Ottawa Valley into Quebec by Wednesday morning, with a changeover to rain and much milder temperature expected.

Untreated roads will likely become icy and treacherous over many regions. Motorists and pedestrians should exercise caution and allow for extra time to reach their destination.

Please refer to the public forecast for further details.

Is the coldest of the winter behind us?

It's starting to look like.   The models have retreated from bringing in the bone chilling cold back in our area.  We will get cold again but more in the "normal" range and not to the -20 to -30 C range like we had last week.  Normals temperatures are on their way back up.  The days are getting longer.  It will be tougher to get extreme cold in.

So for this week, after a bit of freezing rain this evening and tonight, there'll be a change over to straight rain.  It'll be a not insignificant rain, likely a centimeter or two if the precipitation pattern goes the way of the models.   The cold front will come through overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.  We may see some snow on the backside of this system as the cold comes in.  The temperature will drop as the day progresses on Thursday.  Beyond Thursday will see scattered flurries with a clipper or two in the books for next week.  Maybe.  There is a lot of divergence in the models beyond day 5.

Quick post

All I have time for.

The only beef I have with the current Env. Can. forecast (below) is the high temps for Wednesday and Thursday.   I think we won't be getting to double digits on Wednesday and we won't get above OC on Thursday.  I am a little iffy on the second one especially, since the timing of the cold front is crucial.  If it come a little slower, then the Thursday high will come in the wee hours of the morning.

Today: Snow at times heavy. Amount 5 to 10 cm. High minus 8.

Tonight:  Snow ending late this evening then cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries. Risk of freezing drizzle late this evening and overnight. Amount 2 cm. Temperature steady near minus 9.

Tuesday: Cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries in the morning and early in the afternoon. Freezing rain beginning early in the afternoon then changing to rain late in the evening. Risk of freezing drizzle in the morning and early in the afternoon. High minus 1.

Wednesday: Rain. Low plus 2. High 14.

Thursday: A mix of sun and cloud. Low plus 2. High plus 2.

Friday:  Sunny. Low minus 14. High minus 8.

Saturday:  Cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 18. High minus 10.

Sunday:  Periods of snow. Low minus 13. High minus 9.

Last post before the weekend

Not much to add from my previous posts. 
After Sunday it's going to warm up.   The models are aligning with a wet messy storm Tuesday into Wednesday.   The GFS and Euro have timing differences with the arrival of the storm and the cold front after it.  The GFS is about a day later than the Euro which has the storm coming on Tuesday and cold front on Wednesday.
Indications are that the next batch of cold air will give colder than normal conditions for the first two week of February.  Good for Winterlude.

Satellite view of the Lake Effect snow squalls

Taken yesterday:

The next week and beyond

Continuing cold the next few days with minus stupid temperatures (as my sis-in-law calls them).  Next Monday through Wednesday will be a "mild" period before more stupid temperatures come in for the next week or two.  Next Tuesday/Wednesday may even see a snow to freezing rain/rain, back to snow type storm, as the various models currently look.

The coming week or so

A dusting tonight.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrr for Wednesday and Thursday.  Okay this whole week is brrr.
Friday we'll likely get another dusting as the "Colorado Clobber" I mentioned last week goes well south of us.  US NE to get a nice storm though.
Gradual warmup through the weekend with the warmest days being next Monday/Tuesday (how warm TBD, likely close to 0C again).  Cold reloads after that...gangbusters.

Well, I was wrong about the rain...

Win some, lose some.  Even a blind squirrel (Env. Can) finds a nut now and again.

A word to the wise, anything you don't want frozen rock solid for the next week or so, better move it.