Gradual Improvement In Store

The weather will ever so slowly improve in Winnipeg over the next few days as the persistent low pressure system over Northern Ontario that has kept us locked in a cold northwesterly flow over the past several days begins to weaken and move off to the north. It will be a slow process, though, so for now hope will sit right on the horizon while Winnipeggers work through a few more cool days.

Wednesday
7°C / -2°C
Cloudy with sunny breaks

Thursday
8°C / 1°C
Mainly cloudy

Friday
10°C / 1°C
Mainly sunny

Gradual warming will take place over the next few days as a ridge of high pressure slowly works its way into the province from the northwest, bringing with it not warmer air, but sunshine, which should help things get warmer than they have been over the past few days. Today, though, will see gusty northwesterly winds and intermittent sunny breaks in what will otherwise be a fairly cloudy day. The temperature should climb to around 6 or 7°C, although it will likely be slow-going in getting to that point. Clearer skies tonight will bring a low around -2°C with frost.

Tomorrow will be another mainly cloudy day as more cloud moves into the Red River Valley from the Interlake in our northwesterly flow. Temperatures may end up a tad bit warmer than today at 7 or 8°C and winds will ease off a little bit. Skies should clear tomorrow night with a low near 1°C.

Friday will be the first “nice” day seen in a while for Winnipeg; mainly sunny skies, light winds and a high near 10°C will break our spell of cold, windy and cloudy weather. Temperatures will drop to around the 1°C mark again on Friday night.

Warming for Thanksgiving Weekend

Warmer weather is on the way, however, for the weekend. A large low pressure system will drag warmer air into the province, helping highs climb into the mid-teens for both Saturday and Sunday. Skies are looking sunny for Saturday with mixed-to-cloudier skies on Sunday, but no precipitation is expected. Things may turn more unsettled on Monday as a low pressure system moves through the Interlake, but it’s too far out at this time to really say much for certain. We’ll have a full look at Thanksgiving weekend on Friday morning!

Another Cold Snap in Southern Manitoba

Moderately miserable, categorically cold; the weather leading into this weekend will be fairly miserable as a large low pressure system moving through Ontario exerts its influence over southern Manitoba causing strong northwesterly winds as the coldest shot yet of Arctic air plunges southwards into the United States.

Friday
5°C / -1 to 2°C
Cloudy with showers. Flurries possible in the morning. Strong NW wind to 50km/h.

Saturday
7°C / 0–2°C
Clearing except cloudy in the lee of the lakes

Sunday
9°C / 3°C
Mixed skies with a slight chance of isolated showers or drizzle

Friday: A Miserable Fall Storm

The Red River Valley will be under the grip of a miserable fall storm lifting northwards through Northern Ontario today, driven by a massive push of cold Arctic air sweeping through Manitoba. We’ll see a very cold start to the morning with temperatures hovering around 2–3°C, strong northerly winds at 40–50km/h with gusts as high as 70–75km/h and a band of rain stretching north-south through the region. Embedded within the band will likely be some convection, significant since increased precipitation intensity could mean that in addition to the rain, we might see brief bursts of snow as well.

The precipitation should taper off by early afternoon, but we’ll still be left with a strong northerly wind and temperatures struggling to get to our high of 5°C. If the sun manages to poke out at all, we may eke out a 6°C for a high, but that looks quite unlikely.

The RDPS clearly shows Winnipeg nestled between two bands of lake-effect precipitation on Friday night.
The RDPS clearly shows Winnipeg nestled between two bands of lake-effect precipitation on Friday night.

Winds will begin to taper off tonight to around 20km/h. Combined with the cold air, the lake-effect machine will likely start up again, producing lake-effect showers or snow through the overnight period across regions in the lee of the lakes. At this point it looks like Winnipeg will remain safely between the two bands of lake-effect precipitation. The overnight low will be anywhere from –1 to 2°C, depending on exactly how much cloud remains in the area. Here in Winnipeg we should end up on the colder end of things under clearing skies.

A Chilly Weekend

It will be a chilly weekend in Winnipeg with temperatures on Saturday and Sunday both climbing only into the mid-to-upper single digits. Saturday should be a fairly nice day with mainly sunny skies in Winnipeg, but just to our west and east, lake-effect cloud (and likely precipitation) will be ruining a few people’s day. Temperatures will dip to the 0 to 2°C range Saturday night with just a few clouds. Again, lake-effect cloud will be present in the lee of the lakes.

Sunday will bring mixed skies as the whole storm system begins backing into Northern Manitoba from Ontario. Rain or snow will push through Central Manitoba into the Interlake through the day, spreading cloud ahead of it. Winds don’t look too bad this time – only around 20–30km/h – and precipitation should hold off in Winnipeg until overnight. Temperatures will drop to around 3–4°C on Sunday night, heading into a cool and showery Monday.

October Starts By Heading into Chilly Weather

Temperatures will be on the slide as a low pressure system bringing unsettled weather today draws in cooler air behind it, plunging southern Manitoba into yet another spell of unseasonably cool weather.

Wednesday
17°C / 10°C
Cloudy with a few showers

Thursday
16°C / 5°C
Mainly sunny, showers likely in the evening

Friday
10°C / 1°C
A few sunny breaks, otherwise mainly cloudy with light showers

Wednesday

Today will be a mainly cloudy day here in Winnipeg with rather pleasant temperatures – highs will be around 16 or 17°C – alongside a brisk southerly wind to 30–40km/h. The warmer temperatures are thanks to a strongly wound-up low pressure system lifting northwards near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. It will spread an area of rain through Manitoba, but the bulk of it should be isolated along the main deformation axis of the system, sliding northwards through SW Manitoba and Parkland Manitoba into the northern half of the province. Scattered showers will likely be seen through the Red River Valley, but it doesn’t seem like much organized precipitation will develop; as such, rainfall amounts should remain fairly low over the region.

Total precipitation forecast by the RDPS from 7AM to 7PM today.
Total precipitation forecast by the RDPS from 7AM to 7PM today.

Skies will remain mostly cloudy this evening with a chance for some shower activity continuing until around the middle of the night. Clearing will begin afterwards as we head to a low of around 5°C.

Thursday

Thursday will actually be quite a pleasant day; most of the cloud cover should be off to our east leaving us with quite a bit of sunshine through the day as we head to a high once again around 16°C. By late afternoon, though, skies should begin to cloud up in advance of a potent shortwave barreling down in the northwesterly flow behind today’s system. Showers will develop under the shortwave as it progresses southeastwards with much of the Red River Valley seeing some amount of rainfall before 9PM or so. There is a slight chance of seeing some lightning or small hail in some of the shower activity if it manages to develop intensely enough.

A simulated RADAR image from the NAM depicting the potent shortwave moving through on Thursday.
A simulated RADAR image from the NAM depicting the potent shortwave moving through on Thursday.

A brief reprieve will be in store for the middle of the night, but more shower activity is expected to move through later overnight into Friday morning on the back-side of the shortwave. The temperature will dip to around 5°C.

Friday

Friday will start off cloudy with a few remnant showers from the shortwave pulling off to the east. The shower activity should move off relatively quickly, but there’s a slight chance things will linger a little longer if the shortwave stalls out over SE Manitoba. Afterwards we’ll be entrenched in a northwesterly flow with Arctic air spilling southwards into the province. Our temperature will top out around 10°C with some lake-effect drizzle/showers likely in the lee of the lakes.[1]

The Arctic air mass moving in will be the coldest air mass of the season so far in Southern Manitoba. Temperatures will drop to 0–2°C on Friday night under mainly clear skies and a brisk northwesterly wind. Some areas will see cloud streaming off of the lakes, again though where that cloud goes will depend exactly on which way the wind blows.

Cool Weekend Ahead

This weekend will be a cool one as cold Arctic air entrenches itself over the province. Daytime highs will sit in the low teens with overnight lows in the low single digits, perhaps even dipping just below 0°C. Sunday may bring the chance for some shower activity pushing in from the east, but things look rather uncertain at this point.


  1. The wind direction makes it look unlikely that the lake-effect activity will push into Winnipeg; keep in mind that which areas see lake-effect precipitation is extremely sensitive to wind direction.  ↩

Cool Weekend, Warming Next Week

Cool weather will persist across Southern Manitoba this weekend as the region remains under the influence of an unseasonably cold outbreak of Arctic air. Temperatures will continue to slowly moderate, however things will be generally mixed through the weekend with a fair amount of cloud and slight chance of precipitation. The real warm-up will build into the region next week, returning us to summer-like weather.

Friday
13°C / 4°C
Mainly sunny

Saturday
14°C / 5°C
Mainly cloudy

Sunday
14°C / 5°C
Mixed skies

Today will be the nicest day that the area has seen in a while thanks to a westerly wind which will help dry out the low-levels and clear out the cloud that has been so persistent over the past week. Thanks to that, mainly sunny skies will be seen in Winnipeg and throughout much of the Red River Valley with westerly to southwesterly winds up to around 20km/h. Temperatures will remain cool, however, as the wind will be outflow from the colder air mass slumping to our south; highs through the Red River Valley will sit near the 13°C mark.

Tonight will see mainly clear skies with a little bit of cloud working in from the northwest late in the overnight period and a low near 4°C.

Cool, Mixed Weekend

Saturday will be a mainly cloudy day as a weak trough of low pressure swings through the Red River Valley. While no precipitation looks likely, there will be a slight chance of some isolated, light shower activity. The temperature will climb to around 14°C for a high temperature in the valley.

Skies will begin to clear overnight as the trough slides off into Ontario and winds back to northwesterly, although another slightly cool shot of air will be moving in behind the trough so some cloud with a chance of showers or drizzle in the lee of the lakes is likely. Lows will be near 4 or 5°C in Winnipeg & through the Red River Valley.

Sunday will bring mixed skies with a chance of drizzle or showers in the lee of the lakes. The high will once again be near 14 or 15°C while the overnight low drops to a repeat 5°C.

Warmer Weather Next Week

The NAEFS is forecasting above-normal temperatures across Southern Manitoba in the 8-14 day outlook.
The NAEFS is forecasting above-normal temperatures across Southern Manitoba in the 8–14 day outlook.

Manitobans will be repaid for their patience with the cold weather – if medium-to-long-range enesemble models are to be believed – with a hurried return to summer-like conditions. Both Canadian and American models show an upper-level ridge building eastwards across the Prairies next week brining significantly warmer air with it.

850mb temperatures will climb early next week from the –2°C or so they sit at this morning over Winnipeg to around 10°C. This warming aloft will translate to significantly warmer temperatures down here where we live, with daytime highs moving from low-to-mid teens up to the low 20’s.

The weather also looks fairly dry through the warm-up, although by week’s end there looks to be a chance of showers or thunderstorms as a low pressure complex tracks eastwards through the Prairies & Northern Plains of the United States.