The western Canada upper ridge will rebound eastwards this week, bringing more sunshine and warming temperatures to southern Manitoba.

First, I apologize for the lack of forecasts lately. Between a very busy period at work and having to try and kick a persistent cold, I’ve had little spare time and been pretty tired. More changes to the schedule in the week ahead may limit my ability to get forecasts written in the short-term, but I do have some helpful new features coming to the site very soon that I’ve been able to work on a bit.

Looking at the weather, it’s all uphill from here. Yesterday, an upper low moving through the province brought very cool temperatures and showers to the region. Today, with it now shifting off to the east, the upper ridge that slid westwards this week will spread back into the eastern Prairies.

As it heads east, it will send an area of high pressure through the province. That will bring clear skies to the region today with easing northwest winds. Temperatures should bounce back to a seasonal high near 20 °C. Those sunny skies should keep through the weekend as well with temperatures climbing into the mid-20s.

Overnight lows will rise as well, from the high single digits tonight into the mid-teens by weekend’s end.

Long Range Outlook

Next week will start with very warm temperatures; daytime highs in Winnipeg could break the 30 °C mark on Monday. On Tuesday, though, the weather may start to turn, bringing the risk of showers and thunderstorms to the region. The weather pattern looks to stay unsettled through much of the rest of the week, bringing mixed skies, seasonably mild temperatures, and the occasional chance of showers or thunderstorms.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is 20 °C while the seasonal overnight low is 6 °C.

A slow-moving system to the southwest will keep skies cloudy in Winnipeg the next couple days. The sun returns on Sunday with temperatures warming up to start the week.

The main weather-maker over the next couple days will be a slow-moving complex of upper lows that extends from northeastern Montana to the central American Plains. This system will keep skies cloudy over the Red River Valley, but is bringing more inclement weather further west. Rain will persist across portions of SE Saskatchewan and SW Manitoba over the next few days, which has triggered an overland flood warning for parts of the impacted region.

For Winnipeg, though, dry northeasterly winds coming out of an area of high pressure to the north will help keep the rain west and south of the city. Winds will reach around 30 gusting 50 km/h both today and Saturday, then ease into the 10 to 20 km/h range at night.

Temperatures will continue mild, though, with highs in the 20 to 25 °C range over the next couple days and overnight lows in the low teens tonight and high single digits on Saturday night.

Everything begins to change on Sunday, though. The slow-moving system will be punted eastwards as a strong upper ridge builds across the Prairies. This will bring sunny skies back to the region and start sending highs up. Sunday will bring high temperatures back into the mid-20s and overnight lows into the low teens.

Long Range Outlook

The upper ridge over the Prairies will dominate the weather across southern Manitoba through the first half of next week. Daytime highs will climb into the upper 20s with plenty of sunshine.

This system will also likely result in the intensification of forest fires in the western Prairies and British Columbia. It’s too early to tell at this point, but there’s a chance that parts of southern Manitoba may end up seeing some hazy skies later in the week if smoke begins to drift into the region.

An upper low will begin digging into the ridge mid-week, and could bring some unsettled conditions to southern Manitoba in the second half of next week.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is 19 °C while the seasonal overnight low is 5 °C.