2021 starts miserably cloudy for millions of Canadians
Dreary, misty, grey, dull, DANK.
Just some of the words Weather Network meteorologist Tyler Hamilton is using to describe the cloud trends for the start of 2021 across much of Canada.
"Because the sun angle is so low and we're dodging upper troughs and disturbances left, right and centre across eastern Canada, several major cities including Vancouver, Halifax, Toronto and St.John's, are all off to an extremely cloudy start," Hamilton says.
WARMTH DOES NOT MEAN SUN
The miserably cloudy conditions may feel a bit confusing for some, especially as much of the country takes a bit of a "wintermission."
In fact, the early part of winter has mostly featured above normal temperatures nation-wide, with Pacific air continuing to flood the country this week, bringing a very mild pattern expected to last through the mid-January mark.
But, warmth does not mean sun, especially with that low sun angle.
Not helping matters across Ontario is the cool, dank flow off Lake Ontario, combined with the numerous upper troughs and active storm track over the past couple of weeks.
The city of Toronto in particulur, hasn't seen more sun than cloud since December 18, 2020.
"This looks like one of the grayest and dankest stretches of weather that we can get around here - the equivalent of being trapped in an unfinished basement of an old house with no windows or heat for 10 days. It simply sucks," said Weather Network Chief meteorologist, Chris Scott in relation to the struggle the region is facing to see even the slightest cloud break.
SEE ALL THE CLOUD COVER OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS:
SUN! FINALLY! HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO ENJOY OUTSIDE
Hope is on the horizon however, as we keep our fingers crossed for moments of sunshine to round out this first full week of January.
Across Ontario, clouds look to give way to increasing sun for Friday, though with temperatures plunging to the cool side of seasonal. Daytime highs bump closer to the freezing mark on Saturday, with mostly sunny conditions making for a pleasant winter's day.
"The air sinking as it crosses the Rockies also continues to bring the gift of sunshine across the Prairies on Friday," Hamilton says.
