While you may have fond memories of the 20°C weather we were having at this time last year, spring-like weather looks to be a long way off as a low pressure system deepening in Alberta will usher below-seasonal temperatures into the Prairies in it’s wake as it moves through our region tomorrow.
Increasing cloudiness.
-7°C / -10°C
The warm front associated with this system will move towards the Red River Valley this afternoon bringing with it increasing cloud cover and a breezy southerly wind. By late this afternoon the Red River Valley will be mainly cloudy with a southerly wind at around 30km/h and we’ll have climbed to a temperature of about –7°C. There will be a slight chance for some light flurries in Winnipeg and areas south this evening with the passage of the warm front, but meager moisture along the front combined with very dry air being advected into the RRV from the ridge of high pressure to our east will likely mean that most of the snow developed by the front will evaporate in the dry air before it hits the ground. If any organized snow does manage to develop, amounts will be insignificant as the snow will be light and short-lived. Temperatures will only drop to about –10°C under cloudy skies tonight as we sit in the warm sector before the cold front sweeps through.
Thursday & Friday
Increasing cloud with evening flurries. 1-4cm expected.
-5°C / -15°C
Clearing.
-12°C / -22°C
Skies will briefly clear out on Thursday morning before more clouds move in midday in advance of the approaching cold front. Temperatures will climb up to around –5°C with light winds. The cold front associated with this system will begin to push it’s way through the Red River Valley in the evening and will bring some snow along with it. The snow should start a little later on Thursday evening and let up early Friday morning. Accumulations will not be very significant with only 2–4cm expected to be maximum amounts across the RRV. There’s a slight chance that some areas close to the U.S. border such as Morden, Gretna, Altona and Emerson, may see closer to 5cm as the bulk of the snowfall associated with this front is expected to fall in North Dakota and the slightly higher amounts may brush the extreme southern Red River Valley.
On Friday, we’ll see clearing skies as an Arctic ridge begins working into the Prairies. Temperatures will be quite cool for mid-March with daytime highs only hitting –12 or –13*°C, a whole 6–8°C below seasonal.
Weekend at a Glance
Saturday will be a near carbon-copy of Friday with sunny skies and a cool daytime high of around –11°C. Current indications for Sunday show a strong potential for a potent Alberta Clipper system to race along the U.S. border and spread snow through the Red River Valley by Sunday afternoon. It’s fairly early to focus too much on details, but forecasts currently indicate that 5–10cm of snow is quite possible from Winnipeg & the Trans-Canada highway south throug the RRV to the border. We’ll have more details on this system in our post later this week.
