To start the new year (January 1st thru today) the weather has been
highly variable, with temperatures ranging from a minimum of minus 24C
on the 2nd to a high of plus 2C today. From January 7th thru the 9th,
record high temperatures near plus 10C are forecast. The snow on the
ground is quite deep, but it will not withstand several balmy days
like this.

Conditions reflect those at my home in a rural/suburban area
approximately 15 km NW of Kingston. During the first five days of
January there has been close to 25cm of snow. Since November 2007,
there has been approximately 85 cm of snow, which is moderately above
average.

During the winter the temperatures I record are usually a degree or
two lower than those reported in the city of Kingston, as the
moderating influence of Lake Ontario decreases just a few kilometers
inland. In the summer the opposite is true with warmer readings as one
travels north of the lake.

Though not nearly to the same extent as the Atlantic Ocean and the
North Sea in the UK, the the wind blowing off of Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario moderates the climate of southern Ontario.

I have read and seen, via webcams, that the Scottish Highlands got a
decent covering of snow a couple days ago.

Bob