Tag: Snow

Cold Front Brings Late-Season Chill

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A weak cold front passing through the region this morning will bring cooler weather to the Red River Valley for the second half of the work week, but it will be short lived as a widespread push of milder air develops through the weekend.

Today will bring near-seasonal temperatures to Winnipeg alongside some light snow as a cold front sweeps through this morning. Winds will pick up slightly out of the north behind the front as cooler air begins pushing southwards into the Red River Valley. Despite this, the high temperature should reach around -8°C; the bulk of the cold air will move in tonight as temperatures are set to slump to slightly below-normal -18°C.

This cold air will be in place through Thursday as temperatures struggle to climb to a high near just -13°C, which is well below-normal for this time of year. We should see a fair amount of sun, though, so as long as you haven’t put away your mitts and toque, it will be a relatively nice day. Temperatures will dip down to around -18°C again on Thursday night under partly cloudy skies.

A series of impulses moving in from the Pacific will spread warmer air into the eastern Prairies.

Friday will bring the big swing as the first of several Pacific-sourced systems tracks across the central Prairies. Warmer air will surge eastwards towards Manitoba, producing gusty southerly winds as is typical with transition days from colder to warmer weather in the Red River Valley. They’ll probably strengthen to around 40 km/h with gusts up to 60 km/h, and persist into Saturday morning before tapering off Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will climb, though, eventually reaching a high temperature near -5°C. Along with the warmer weather will come more cloud, with skies clouding over by midday. While any accumulating snow is unlikely, there may be some light snow in the afternoon as the warm front pushes across the Red River Valley.

Skies should mix out a bit on Friday night as temperatures continue near -5°C or even rise slightly towards -3 or -2°C by Saturday morning.

Long Range

Mild weather will remain over southern Manitoba for the weekend, with daytime highs continuing to be above seasonal. By Sunday, the chance for snow will increase as a more significant low pressure system develops across the Northern Plains.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -5°C while the seasonal overnight low is -15°C.

Cool Weekend Ahead; Light Snow Possible Saturday

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The weather will be relatively quiet over the coming few days with slightly below-seasonal temperatures in place. The only real weather to note will come on Saturday as a weak low pressure system tracks along the US-Canada border and brings the chance for some light snow to the region.

Today will bring a daytime high near -8°C with partly cloudy skies and light winds. Expect a low near -13°C tonight with increasing cloud.

Saturday will be a mostly cloudy day as a low pressure system skims along international border. Temperatures will top out around -6 or -7°C in the Red River Valley with a decent chance of some light snow in the region, particularly through the afternoon. Minor accumulations may occur, but only really enough to make roads a bit slick again. Winds will continue to be fairly light. Temperatures will dip down to around -14°C on Saturday night with clear breaks developing.

The 00Z run fo the RDPS shows the potential for 1-3cm of snow on Friday across southwest and south-central Manitoba.

Sunday will be be a return to quiet weather with a high near -6°C, light winds and mixed skies. Lows will drop to around -12°C on Sunday night with mixed skies continuing.

Ultimately, there’s a slack pressure pattern for the coming few days and with the storm track well to our south. This will result in a few days that are mostly slight variations of each other.

Long Range

Temperatures are expected to return to seasonal values for much of next week. At this point, it appears that there are no threats for any notable snowfall events until late next week, so fairly quiet weather ahead.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -6°C while the seasonal overnight low is -16°C.

Rain Expected Today In The Red River Valley

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A complex low pressure system moving across Manitoba today likely bring record-breaking rainfall to Winnipeg as showers develop along a cold front sweeping eastwards. Behind this feature, things will cool slightly, returning the region to near-seasonal temperatures with a few chances for some light snow.

Today’s main weather story will be a low pressure system lifting northeastwards through the Interlake that will push a cold front eastwards across the Red River Valley & Whiteshell. Ahead of this front, temperatures will climb to a high near 4°C with light southerly winds. As the front pushes through later this morning, an area of showers will develop and spread eastwards. The rain has the potential to be relatively heavy (for February in southern Manitoba), and will produce a swath of accumulations generally in the range of 4-8mm, with lower amounts to the west of the main development and localized potential for 8-15mm although those higher amounts would likely be restrained to near the Ontario border.

The NAM’s simulated RADAR imagery shows the main area of rain passing just to the southeast of Winnipeg.

There’s a little uncertainty as to how far west and north the precipitation will push, however it seems likely that Winnipeg will see some rain with 2-5 mm very likely. There’s a smaller chance that we’ll see amounts higher than that, but that will become more clear this morning as the rain develops. Winnipeg’s daily rainfall record for February 20th is 0.3 mm, set in 1965. This makes breaking the record almost a near-certainty today.

Winds shift out of the west behind the front to west-southwesterly at around 20-30 km/h. Temperatures will fall to a low near -1°C overnight under mostly cloudy skies.

Tuesday will bring a mix of sun and cloud to the region with mild weather still in place as temperatures climb to a high near 3°C. Expect increasing cloudiness on Tuesday night with temperatures dropping to a low near -2°C.

Wednesday will bring another low pressure system to the region, this time skirting across southern Manitoba near the US border. This system will spread an area of snow along and just north of the low track. Total amounts, at this point, look like 5-10 cm over the southwestern portion of the province, tapering off to 4-8 cm over the Red River Valley and 2-5 cm over the southeastern corner of the province. Winnipeg’s high temperature will climb to around -1°C, but temperatures may climb to 0 to +1°C over the southern Red River Valley if the low tracks far enough north. Expect a low near -8°C on Wednesday night with gradually clearing skies.

Long Range

The long-range forecast looks cooler, but still relatively pleasant. Winnipeg will likely see variable cloudiness through the second half of the week as temperatures fall back to seasonal to slightly below seasonal temperatures. Nothing significant is expected for snow between Thursday and the end of the weekend.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -7°C while the seasonal overnight low is -17°C.

After A Chilly Wednesday, Temperatures Set to Skyrocket

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It will be a bitterly cold morning today across southern Manitoba with wind chill values dipping as low as -42 or -43 in some locations, but this cold weather is short lived as a rapidly building upper-level ridge allows mild Pacific air to flood eastwards across the Prairies.

A bitterly cold ridge of high pressure will bring well below-seasonal temperatures to the region with daytime highs across southern Manitoba struggling to climb much above the -20°C mark. Winds will also pick up out of the west to around 20-30 km/h, maintaining wind chill values below -30 all day. No question about it, it’s going to be a cold one.

Temperatures will dip to the mid-minus 20’s tonight with relatively south to southwesterly light winds as the ridge axis moves through.

Thursday will begin the warmup as a the Arctic ridge begins moving off to the east and milder air begins pushing into southern Alberta & southwestern Saskatchewan. Here in Winnipeg, temperatures will climb to a high near -14°C with gradually increasing cloud cover. Winds will pick up out of the south in the late afternoon to around 30-40 km/h ahead of the incoming warm front. Snow will then spread into the region overnight with winds tapering off and temperatures rising to around -9°C by Friday morning.

A low pressure system will spread snow across southern Manitoba on Thursday night, however there is some uncertainty of how far north the snow will fall.

The snow will taper off on Friday morning, leaving behind mostly cloudy skies with a chance of freezing drizzle. Temperatures will continue to climb to a high near -2°C, although temperatures could climb above the freezing mark near the US border. Skies will become mixed as temperatures drop to a low near -12°C on Friday night.

Long Range

In general, the future looks pleasant. Above-normal temperatures are expected to be in place throughout all of next week with daytime highs averaging in the mid-minus single digits.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -9°C while the seasonal overnight low is -20°C.