RAH talking about soil temp issues in January but also mention the fast storm motion and non ideal parent high position:
Today`s probabilistic guidance from the GEFS has increased storm
total snowfall accumulations quite a bit but EC ENS is a bit more
reserved and more realistic looking. There`s a handful of factors
that would lend themselves toward lower snow totals. The lack of a
strong surface ridge over eastern Canada is concerning and while
there is cold air upstream, we`d be much more confident in
significant snow totals if the ridge was parked over Ontario vs
Manitoba. Secondly, the surface wave rapidly moves out of the area
and offshore, really only giving us a good 6 hours of snow potential
vs a slower moving system. Surface soil temperatures aren`t overly
cold either (40s) but that could be overcome with intense snow
rates. Overall given the variety of solutions out there, erring on
the lower end of the distribution seems to be prudent at this time.