Arctic air will continue to slump southwards behind yet another cold front moves through the Red River Valley today. We’ll see temperatures well below normal this weekend, but things should begin to rapidly warm up for the start of next week.
13°C / -1°C
Mix of sun and cloud. Chance of showers midday.
7°C / -3°C
Cool and mainly sunny.
12°C / 5°C
Sunny
We’ll see the busiest weather day today as a low pressure system and associated cold front sweeps through the Red River Valley, ushering in cooler Arctic air with breezy northerly winds.
An area of rain will push through the Interlake with this system while further south, just a few scattered showers will survive along the cold front as it passes through the Red River Valley. Here in Winnipeg, there’s a slight chance we’ll see a shower, but the better chance is further south and east of us, where a little additional daytime heating may help some showers develop with the frontal passage. Areas in the western half of the Red River Valley will likely see little or no rainfall today.
Winds will remain breezy through the day, with southerly winds of around 20km/h shifting to north-westerly behind the cold front and picking up to about 30km/h with gusts close to 50km/h. These north-westerly winds will usher in another shot of Arctic air giving the Red River Valley (hopefully just) one last cold snap through the weekend. Temperatures will climb to around 13°C before the cold front limits our warming and drop just below freezing tonight as winds diminish.
Saturday will bring very cool weather as Arctic air continues to infiltrate southwards. We’ll see a high of only around 7°C under mainly sunny skies and northwesterly winds of 20–30km/h, some 10+°C below normal. Temperatures will drop below zero on Saturday night as well, probably close to –3 or –4°C.
Sunday will see the warm air beginning to build back in, but we’ll only get to around 12°C under sunny skies. Overnight lows should be close to 10°C warmer than Saturday night, though, which will be welcome.
Into Next Week
Looking into next week, it seems like we’ll return to seasonal to above seasonal temperatures. The NAEFS correctly forecasted our cool down and seems to be indicating we’ll be trending upwards over the next 8–14 days. At this point it looks like we’ll return to the low-to-mid 20’s on Monday with potentially warmer weather on Tuesday.
It’s also looking like Tuesday night may bring Southern Manitoba’s first risk for nocturnal thunderstorms of the year. It’s still fairly early, but models are indicating that a low pressure system tracking through the region may develop & sustain an MCS on Tuesday night. We’ll definitely keep an eye on that system! Enjoy the sunshine this weekend and try not to forget that summer looks to arrive (for a more prolonged period, this time) next week!
