More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
As of Friday morning, only two states in the U.S. have blizzard warnings -- and they are Alaska and Hawaii. Yes, you read that correctly. In fact, more snow has fallen in Hawaii this season than in Denver, Colorado.
Several blizzard warnings are in effect in Alaska where blowing snow will cause travel conditions to be extremely difficult if not impossible. Snow is common in Alaska, especially this winter season.
Much of Alaska was colder than normal in November, with some areas near record levels.
Hawaii's blizzard warnings are a bit rarer. According to the Iowa mesonet data site, it's been 1,347 days (over 3.5 years) since the last blizzard warning was been issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Honolulu.
The weather service is forecasting up to a foot (30 cm) of snow or more with winds gusting up to 100 mph (161 kph) through the weekend for the Big Island summits.
Hawaii's two mountain peaks, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, both which sit at more than 13,000 feet above sea level, are the only two locations that see snow annually in Hawaii.
Both summits typically see fresh snow every winter, mainly because the wet season in Hawaii runs from October to April and temperatures regularly drop below freezing on the summits from November to March.
The summit on Mauna Loa was temporarily closed on Tuesday night due to high winds and winter weather conditions, according to the National Park Service.
Mauna Kea was also capped in snow, earlier this week.
The Mauna Kea Weather Center has several live camera feeds you can access to see if the summit is covered in snow.
The summit on Haleakala in Maui, which tops out at over 10,000 feet, can also see some occasional snow cover. Although snow is slightly less common on this island, which occurs only once every 2 to 3 years, according to the Weather Prediction Center (WPC).
Even though the Big Island of Hawaii will get snow, the vast majority of the state will see rain, a lot of rain. A flood watch is in place for most of the rest of the state.
"Heavy rainfall will be a threat and shower bands may line up over portions of the state for extended periods of time, increasing the threat for flooding," the NWS office in Honolulu said Friday morning.
Be prepared to adjust your travel plans accordingly if you're in Hawaii, as some roads may be closed or difficult to pass if flooding occurs or snow becomes very heavy with poor visibility.
Snow may be plentiful for Alaska and Hawaii, but it is in short supply across the contiguous U.S.
Outside of the fake snow created by ski resorts through November, you may be hard pressed to find snow, even in some usually white locations. But there may be a glimmer of hope for some snow this weekend, just not in Colorado.
"It's been 224 consecutive days (and counting) since it snowed a measurable amount in Denver, and it has just broken the record for the latest date for a first snowfall -- a record that has held since snowfall records began in 1882," says Derek Van Dam, CNN Meteorologist.
Denver isn't alone. The vast majority of the lower 48 states recorded below-average snowfall last month.
"November 2021 really put the "no" in snow, with a majority of the country seeing below average snowfall last month," the WPC said in a tweet. "The only exceptions were located around the Great Lakes, Pacific Northwest, and Upper Midwest. Who's hoping Old Man Winter makes a comeback in December?"
That could be changing for some areas this weekend though as the potential for snow returns for the Midwest on Sunday.
A developing area of low pressure over Montana this weekend combined with an arctic air mass located on the northern side of the U.S.-Canada border will provide the necessary ingredients for a moderate snowstorm event.
"By Saturday night into Sunday morning, a developing area of low pressure over central Montana is expected to move east with the associated precipitation, leading to a swath of moderate-to-heavy snow from northeast Montana to northern Minnesota," the WPC said in their Friday discussion.
"Widespread snowfall amounts greater than 5 inches is likely across the northern half of North Dakota, mainly north of Interstate 94. This amount of snowfall and the potential for periods of heavy snow may lead to difficult travel conditions."
Winter storm watches and warnings have been issued from Montana to Wisconsin, but more areas may be added through the weekend.
A couple inches of snow are forecast for northern Michigan, including Marquette which has snow chances in the forecast Friday all the way through Monday.
"For the Northeast, cold and blustery northwest winds will keep temperatures below average for early December," the WPC said. "As a result, consistent lake effect snow showers are possible through Sunday morning with some enhancement possible on Saturday as a low pressure system passes just to the north."
Even with a few inches of snow forecast this weekend, it will do little to improve overall snowpack across the lower 48 compared to where we should be this time of year.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”