John Barker
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 16/02) - Just when Yellowknifers were getting ready to break out their parkas and hop on snowmobiles for an early winter, Environment Canada is telling us to hold that thought.

Yes, there's snow on the ground out there today. There has been for a week now. But it could all be gone by this time next week, says Serge Besner, a meteorologist with the Arctic Weather Centre in Edmonton.

In simple terms, this is what's happening: a "cold low" has been stationary just south of Resolute Bay for a couple of weeks now. It extends as far south as Manitoba and is influencing the entire Arctic.

Lows rotate counter-clockwise. As a result on the "upside " -- the Eastern and High Arctic, Besner says -- warm air is being drawn up from Southern Canada and the United States. They're setting new maximum high temperatures from Alert or Iqaluit. On the "downside" of the rotation -- that includes us in Yellowknife and the rest of the Western Arctic -- cold air is being drawn down over us from the High Arctic, Besner says.

The good news, however, is the warm air being drawn so far north is causing the "cold low" near Resolute Bay to self-destruct, Besner says. By early next week, Besner says, the weakening low, should be dislodged by a strong ridge of high pressure building right now over the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Alaska.

Spinning clockwise, it should draw up warm air over the Western Arctic, leaving Yellowknifers basking in sunshine and warm -- or at least above-freezing -- temperatures by this time next week, Besner says.