A Weather Moment

Winnipeg looks poised to break free of below-seasonal temperatures by the weekend. The city has seen seasonably cold temperatures entrenched over the region for much of February into the beginning of March.

Winnipeg will see fairly benign weather over the next few days as an Arctic high moves through the region. Be it cloudy periods today, mixed skies tomorrow, or increasing cloudiness on Friday, there will be cloud around through the remainder of the week.

Temperatures will be coldest today and tonight with highs and lows roughly 10°C below seasonal averages. The rest of the week will bring a gradual warming trend, reaching a high near -7°C on Friday. A few light flurries are possible over the next couple days, but forecasts show nothing of note.

Winds will be a bit breezy today out of the northwest at 20 to 30 km/h. The wind will then will diminish to calm as the Arctic high moves in tonight. Winds will remain calm or light out of the south for the remainder of the work week.

Long Range Outlook

The big shift in the weather will occur this weekend. A Colorado Low will push northeastwards through the American plains towards the Great Lakes. This system will bring some snow to the region, but the brunt of the storm will remain south of the border. The bigger impact of this storm will be how it shifts the large-scale pattern over North America.

As the Colorado Low pushes eastwards, it will finally dislodge the Polar Vortex from Hudson Bay. With the vortex gone, there will no longer be a persistent forcing of cold air southwards. This will allow seasonal temperatures to push into the region more frequently. The downside may be a more zonal pattern aloft. This pattern tends to result in more frequent disturbances moving through the region and chances for snow.

And while it’s still a long ways out, we have to mention that several models show the potential for a major winter storm next week. There’s no point in going into details, but we just want to note that some unpleasant winter weather may reappear for mid-March.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -4°C while the seasonal overnight low is -14°C.

Winnipeg will head into an extended period of slightly cooler than seasonal temperatures and benign weather.

Winnipeg will see cool but comparatively pleasant conditions over the next few days. An Arctic high entrenched over the Prairies will weaken any passing disturbances right into next week. That said, Winnipeg will end the work week with sunny skies today and a high near -14°C. Unlike yesterday, winds will be light today, so conditions outside will be great for getting outside and enjoying winter activities. Temperatures will fall to a low near -27°C tonight, then gradually moderate early Saturday morning as cloud cover moves into the region.

Saturday will bring cloudy skies to Winnipeg as a disturbance slowly pushes eastwards into the Dakotas. Temperatures will warm up to a high near -12°C with light winds continuing. While south-western Manitoba may see some light snow, it doesn’t look like any will fall here in the Red River Valley. Temperatures will dip to a low near -21°C under cloudy skies on Saturday night.

Sunday will bring more cloud to the region with a high near -12°C again. Winnipeg will see a slight chance of flurries, particularly in the afternoon, but should escape any accumulating snow. Temperatures will dip to a low near -22°C again with some clear breaks developing.

Long Range Outlook

Next week looks cool and dry for Winnipeg. The city will continue to see high temperatures in the -10 to -15°C range with overnight lows near -20°C. While the week will bring variable cloudiness, it does not look like the region will see any accumulating snowfall.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -8°C while the seasonal overnight low is -18°C.