Stormy winter expected for Nova Scotia says The Weather Network

If The Weather Network's Doug Gillham could use one word to describe the upcoming winter season in Nova Scotia, it would be “stormy.”

Gillham said this winter should be comparable to last year.

“We do expect an active storm track once again, above normal precipitation which would include a fair bit of snow,” he explained.

The meteorologist said a developing La Nina is partially to blame, the colder-than-normal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator generally contribute to increased weather activity.

“The other thing that will enhance precipitation amounts is warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean,” he said. “That also helps to boost precipitation amounts to be higher-than-normal, tapping into that milder, moist air just to the south allows some bigger snowfall events across the region.”

However in addition to the snow and ice, the warmer temperatures should also bring rain storms, which could keep the snow banks low.

In fact, Nova Scotia is one of the few areas in Canada expecting to have above normal temperatures, but you can still expect Shubenacadie Sam to see his shadow on February 2nd.

“One of the things that we see as we go back in history and look at years that had similar patterns in terms of the globe as a whole, we look at what those winters did in Atlantic Canada, and an early spring is not something that happened very often,” he warned.