Winter storm warning

Many cities around the Great Lakes have storm warnings like Toronto’s tonight:

Winter storm warning for: City of Toronto, issued at 6:46 p.m. EST Tuesday 5 February 2008: snow with ice pellets and freezing rain expected tonight and Wednesday. This is a warning that dangerous winter weather conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions.. Listen for updated statements.

Yet another moisture-laden winter storm is moving towards Southern Ontario. The low pressure centre has moved into Southern Missouri this evening and as it moves northeastward towards the Ohio Valley tonight it will tap into a lot of moisture and energy from the Gulf of Mexico. Thus it is likely that this low will intensify into a significant winter storm as it moves into Southern Ontario tonight and Wednesday. The leading edge of the large precipitation shield from this storm has arrived in Windsor near 6.17 p.m. this evening when a cold rain started to fall there.

Although this storm seems to be following the script of many previous winter storms this season, this one will be a little different. As the low tracks northeastwards tonight, strengthening northeast winds are forecast to tap colder air from a building Arctic high pressure ridge over Northern Ontario. This will set the stage for a band of potentially significant freezing rain south of a line from Sarnia to Hamilton and a mixture of snow and ice pellets from Goderich towards the greater Toronto area to just north of Lake Ontario. Regions farther north will likely receive some snow but below the warning threshold of 15 centimetres per 12 hours.

The precipitation will continue to advance quickly northeast this evening and envelop much of southern ontario by dawn, making for a potentially hazardous Wednesday morning commute.

A relative break in the precipitation lasting about 6 hours is expected to pass through southern Ontario during the late morning to early afternoon. during this break freezing drizzle and patchy freezing rain will improve visibilities but may cause icy conditions to persist.

During the late afternoon hours the precipitation will intensify again and switch over to snow heavy at times with about 5 to 10 centimetres on tap across most districts.

Significant ice accretion over areas south of a line from Sarnia to Hamilton and total snowfall amounts of 10 to 25 centimetres north of this line can be expected before this storm exits the region late Wednesday.

Travellers should be prepared to alter plans accordingly again as driving conditions once again will deteriorate significantly on Wednesday. Dangerous winter driving conditions from very low visibility in bursts of heavy snow are anticipated. Untreated surfaces may also be icy and very slippery as a result. Environment Canada continues to closely monitor this situation.

Pilates lesson

We went for Pilates. All those tiny little movements: arch the back from the inside of the spine, stretch the ribs down to the hips, breath this way and that, pull the hip crests together, point the sit-bones to the back wall, swing legs horizontally to the floor without changing the position of hips or slacking off the core muscles… I like it.

Contract interview

Today I had a short, pleasant interview for a contract with a government ministry. I’d be helping to develop design requirements at, and after, Joint Application Design meetings. I feel positive about it, but there are four candidates so I might not get the job.

Trip summary

Our round trip contained these legs:

1. Toronto, Ontario, to Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: 800 miles in 13 hours
2. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to Key West, Florida: 1000 miles in 15¼ hours
3. Key West, Florida, to Coral Springs, Florida: 190 miles in 3 ²/₃ hours
4. Coral Springs, Florida, to Savannah, Georgia: 460 miles in 7 hours
5. Savannah, Georgia, via Charleston, South Carolina, to Wilmington, North Carolia: 280 miles in 5½ hours
6. Wilmington, North Carolia, to Washington, D.C.: 390 miles in 6 hours
7. Washington, D.C., to West Chester, Pennsylvania: 125 miles in 2½ hours
8. West Chester, Pennsylvania, to Toronto, Ontario: 505 miles in 8 ¹/₃ hours

Total: 3750 miles in 60¼ hours. These are driving times only. Add restroom breaks, meals, driver changes, missed turns, sightseeing, buying a few things, scenic routes, and traffic / toll / border delays.

Erie Canal song: "Low Bridge"

On our way through Pennsylvania, we remembered the old song, “I’ve got a mule and her name is Sal, / Fifteen years on the Erie Canal.” I guessed it might be from the 1940s and that it was a song written about the tow-mules and their owners, rather than a work song. I was partly right.

Wikipedia knows all! It’s a song called “Low Bridge,” written in 1905 when the canal changed from mule-power to motors.

The image is from Wikimedia Commons.

Wedding invitation

I’ve been invited to the wedding of a cousin in Grande Prairie, Alberta. We’ve just had a successful driving vacation. For a moment I contemplated driving out west. But LotStreetWiz tells me that one way would be almost as far as the round trip we just completed–down to the Florida Keys and back. Mapquest tells me it’s almost forty hours of driving. I guess I’ll have to fly, if I can go.