What a difference a week makes along Lake Ontario ! The first picture taken on a mild Saturday, November 29, shows the wind whipping up the waves under the ducks and seagulls.
Lake Ontario Mississauga Waterfront Trail
And after the cold winds and low temps of the past week, today brought a change in the weather to mild temps and no wind. Still lots of ducks and gulls bobbing on the waves. It was about plus 4 Celsius (49 F) and remnants of an inch of wet snow from last night were being melted away by a light drizzle of rain.
Curly Willow in Late Fall Mississauga Ontario
Not a shred of sunshine to be had, as you can tell from the gloomy picture of this curly willow against the low dark sky.
Waterfront Trail Lake Ontario Footprints - Looking West
The number of recent footprints on this section of the Waterfront Trail was somewhat surprising, given that no winter maintenance had yet been performed. Perhaps an early morning group of runners had happened along. As we walked into Port Credit along this trail, the only human we saw on the 20 minute walk was a fellow driving a truck with a plow at Saddington Park.
Footprints in the Snow - Canada Geese
On the trail in Saddington Park, these footprints (webprints?) made by Canada Geese brought to mind 1970s wallpaper pattern. Further along, heading east into Port Credit, I took a short video of the river ice heaving in the currents. ( I know, don't quit my day job!)
The night before, the temperature had climbed steadily, until just before noon, when it reached 11 C (52F). A light rain was falling, the cold front moving in had high winds lifting me off my feet. Here at Snug Harbour, the ice floes heaved at the shoreline.
Here's a very short shot of the cold front moving in. This video is taken on the west side at Saddington Park.
Last evening, I set out for a short walk to the park and lakeshore, since it had been a week or so since I had last gone that way, and I wanted to see what, if anything, had changed. Coming out from under the tree canopy part of the trail, I could see the setting sun behind the clouds.
A few minutes later, and accompanied by a scampering chipmunk, I took the second photo when the clouds again shifted.
Later that night, as I was watching the news, I was surprised to learn that those clouds were likely remnants of the heavy rains and thunderstorms earlier that day, just northeast and east of Toronto. Here, to the west of Toronto, it had been dry and mostly sunny.
These widely varied weather conditions within a fairly small geographic area always surprise me: Toronto could be having a day-long driving snowstorm (usually due to lake streamers), yet in Mississauga, only 20 km or so west, it will be bright and sunny. Snow? What snow?
It's supposed to get very hot the next few days. Would that the nearby lake was suitable for swimming!
Lake Ontario Mississauga Waterfront Trail
Curly Willow in Late Fall Mississauga Ontario
Waterfront Trail Lake Ontario Footprints - Looking West
Footprints in the Snow - Canada Geese
Credit River Ice at Snug Harbour
