Weekend Outlook: A break from the weather hype

The weather forecast business can be a thankless game. There are times when you forecast a large storm, and everyone scrambles to take cover and wait it out.  When this happens, the storm never lives up to the billing since it was so hyped and anticipated that never seems to fit the Day After Tomorrow magnitude we had envisioned. The good news is that everyone is safe; storm or no storm.

Then there's the other side of the coin; when a storm system arrives with more impact than what was forecasted. This scenario leaves people stranded, stuck in ditches and exposed to the severe weather. In this case, the bad weather is 'one-of-the-worst-ever,' and the weather forecaster must have been asleep at the wheel.

Ironically each of those same storms may have had the exact amount of snow or bad weather. The difference was in the preparedness of people, and so the impact was drastically different. The good news for both you and I is that we are heading into a stretch of quiet weather this weekend (and beyond.) So we don't have to worry about hyped storms and the weather blowing up your social media for a while, at least until the weekend, when the worst-storm-ever arrives again.

The widespread light snow comes to an end around noon on Friday, but the risk of lake effect flurries remains in the forecast for the afternoon thanks to the gusty northwest winds. Daytime highs will reach -3C in the morning and then fall through the day as those winds usher colder air into the region.

Saturday will begin a stretch of quiet, snow-free weather that could extend well into next week. Skies will start out sunny with a few clouds in the afternoon as temperatures climb to near -6°C.

Sunday remains slightly colder than normal with mostly cloudy skies and daytime highs of -7°C. The colder than normal weather continues into early next week.