Temperature roller-coaster continues with unsettled week ahead

What a weekend that was.

The bitter blast of arctic air sent temperatures into the -20s and -30s for much of the region Saturday — breaking daily temperature records along with all-time wind chill records in Halifax, Yarmouth and Saint John, with Mechanic Settlement near Sussex, N.B., recording a wind chill of -50 C.

Temperatures then rebounded to near and above freezing, but the wild swings led to many frozen and burst water pipes.

With that cold behind us, the week ahead will continue to feature temperature swings, and the overall pattern will remain unsettled.

Speaking of unsettled weather, a weak trough will bring a chance of showers or flurries to the Maritimes on Wednesday, but a larger system offshore could bring five to 10-plus cm of snow to St. John’s.

A brief high-pressure ridge then moves in on Thursday before our next system this weekend.

A Texas low will move into the Great Lakes region Thursday night and is forecast to push snow first into the Maritimes Friday, Newfoundland Friday night into Saturday, which is likely to mix with some ice and rain in Nova Scotia, southern New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland.

A secondary low-pressure system will then develop along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. Most guidance as of Monday afternoon brings that system through Atlantic Canada with more rain and snow Saturday into Sunday, but some move it offshore.

Overall, snowfall looks insignificant for most of Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and eastern Newfoundland, but to what extent these systems impact the region, including precipitation amounts and wind speeds, will become clearer over the next couple of days.

Certainly, though, temperatures will continue to fluctuate above and below freezing over the next week.