Tag: Snow

Cold Week Ahead for Winnipeg

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It will be a cold week ahead in the city as the Polar Vortex continues to supply the region with Arctic air.

RDPS 2m Temperature Forecast valid 21Z Thursday February 2, 2023
One last surge of bitter cold will spread across the Prairies for Thursday before this outbreak of Arctic air begins to weaken.

The Polar Vortex will remain entrenched over Canada’s eastern Arctic region this week, sustaining a persist northwesterly flow across the Prairies. This will keep temperatures well below seasonal averages through the rest of the week.

Daytime highs will vary through the week, ranging from a few degrees on the warm side of -20 °C on Wednesday to a much colder high near -25 °C on Thursday. Overnight lows will generally sit in the -25 to -30 °C range, though lows could reach into the -30s tonight.

The slightly warmer weather on Wednesday will be courtesy a weak disturbance moving through the region. It will bring cloud cover and a bit of light snow to the region as it moves through. The bigger impact it will bring to the region will be a strong cold front that sweeps through on Wednesday night. It will bring moderate northerly winds to the region, some blowing snow, and plummeting temperatures.

That cold air mass that moves in behind is what will keep the daytime highs so low on Thursday. Temperatures will likely dip back below -30 °C on Thursday night again.

On Friday, cloudier skies will move into the region as a slow pattern change begins to take shape. Temperatures will likely climb back into the -15 to -20 °C range, but a stiff southerly wind will make it feel pretty cold outside.

Long Range Outlook

I mentioned last week that it looked like the polar vortex would begin to destabilize heading into this weekend. Fortunately, that still looks to be the case; by the end of the week, its structure looks to become far more wobbly and will likely be pulled northwards back towards the pole by the end of the weekend.

As a result, we’ll likely see the worst of the cold leave the region this weekend, leaving behind closer to seasonal temperatures across much of the Prairies. There may be a bit of light snow through this process, but at this time no significant snowfalls are in the forecast.

Layer up and stay warm this week; relief is on the horizon!

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -11 °C while the seasonal overnight low is -22 °C.

Mild Winter Weather Continues for a Few More Days

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Despite a vigorous cold front sweeping through the region yesterday, seasonably mild weather will persist the rest of the work week. But get ready, it looks like a blast of Arctic air is on the horizon.

RDPS 2m Temperature Forecast valid 00Z Thursday January 26, 2023
Colder weather will gradually build into northern Manitoba this week.

Winnipeg will continue to see mixed to cloudy skies this week in the wake of yesterday’s cold front that borough some light snow to the region through the day. Through the rest of the work week, a stalled front will stretch from northern Saskatchewan to southeastern Manitoba, with a few weak disturbances rippling along it. Not only will this maintain the cloud, it will bring the a good chance for occasional bouts of light snow through the week.

Some light accumulations of snow are most likely this morning, then a few flurries might slide across the Red River Valley through Wednesday. A more organized system will bring accumulating snow to much of southern Manitoba sometime Thursday afternoon through the night. This final system could bring as much as 4 to 8 cm of snow to some areas by Friday morning.

Over these days, daytime highs will generally sit in -5 to -10 °C range expect for Wednesday which will likely see a high slightly cooler than -10 °C. Overnight lows will vary quite a bit depending on how much cloud sticks around, but most will settle in the -15 to -20 °C range.

Long Range Outlook

Friday’s passing low will bring about a fairly substantial pattern change. This system will be bolstered by a cross-polar surge of Arctic air that pushes the Polar Vortex southwards into Canada’s eastern Arctic region. This will allow much colder air to spill southwards into the Prairies, bringing some bitter cold that the region hasn’t seen since  shortly before Christmas last year.

Forecasts show a strong cold front surging southwards through southern Manitoba on Friday night. Temperatures will plummet behind it with Winnipeg’s overnight low dropping into the low minus 20s. This weekend, daytime highs will struggle to reach the -20 to -25 °C range with overnight lows likely dipping to -30 °C.

Some models show a low pressure system passing through the region on Sunday night; if this happens, stronger northerly winds on Monday morning will likely result in blowing snow across the region.

With the surge of much colder conditions, wind chill values will dip towards the -40 mark. There’s a good chance that some extreme cold warnings will spread from Northern Manitoba into southern Manitoba through the weekend.

It’s been exceptionally mild winter so far and it was inevitable that we’d get some very cold temperatures before the season was up. Enjoy the relative warmth this week, and prepare to bundle up for the weekend!

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -13 °C while the seasonal overnight low is -23 °C.

More of the Same Ahead: Cloudy and Mild Weather

Brad Leave a comment

Sounding like a broken record, the days ahead shows little change with plenty of cloud and mild conditions.

RDPS 2m Temperature Forecast valid 21Z Friday January 13, 2023
Breezy southerly winds will develop across the Red River Valley on Friday as a push of very mild winter air approaches the region.

An upper ridge will rebound again over western Canada in the coming days, helping keep the colder Arctic air locked up north.

As a result, the region will continue to see seasonably mild weather. Daytime highs will sit in the -5 to -10 °C range through the rest of the work week. A weak disturbance will move through tonight will bring a chance for some light snow to the region, but it won’t leave much more than a dusting of snow across the Red River Valley.

A bit of cooler air will slump in behind this system on Thursday, sending highs towards the lower end of the range mentioned above. On the upside, that might also bring some sunny breaks to Winnipeg as well.

Winds will be a bit of a mixed bag over the coming days. Winnipeg will see southerly winds near 30 km/h today that will ease later this afternoon. They will then shift to northwest winds for Wednesday around 20 km/h and ease on Thursday. Friday could be a bit of breezy day as a more organized push of wamer air works towards the region. Much of the Red River Valley will likely see southerly winds of 40 to 50 km/h develop in the morning. Those winds will last through the day and then ease overnight.

Long Range Outlook

Skies will cloud back over for the weekend as a push of milder air moves into the region. Daytime highs will climb towards 0 °C by Sunday with a chance of some snow.

The snow will likely fall mainly north of Winnipeg from WestMan across the Interlake. There could be close to 10 cm of snow for some places by Sunday evening. We’ll keep an eye on this system as the week progresses. The southern edge of the snow amounts drop-off sharply, and more southerly track could mean poor travel conditions along the Trans-Canada Highway corridor on Sunday.

Until then, though, enjoy the mild conditions! If you’re looking for something to do to get out and take advantage of the winter warmth, The Forks Skating Trail is open on the Assiniboine all the way to the Osborne Bridge and on the Red River to Queen Elizabeth way!

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -13 °C while the seasonal overnight low is -24 °C.

Snowy Mid-Week Warm-Up Ahead

Brad Leave a comment

A couple of disturbances moving across the Prairies will bring snow and seasonably mild weather to Winnipeg this week.

RDPS 2m Temperature Forecast valid 21Z Wednesday December 28, 2022
Milder weather will spread through southern Manitoba on Wednesday with daytime highs just a few degrees below freezing.

The first of two systems that will bring warmer temperatures has pushed into the Red River Valley overnight. Temperatures have warmed up towards -10 °C through the night as light snow moved across much of southern Manitoba. Any lingering snow will taper off early this morning as temperatures climb up to a high near -7 °C. The only accumulating snow left in the area today will stay well to the north through the Interlake eastwards to the Ontario border where another 2–5 cm is likely.

Just as quickly as this system leaves, another will begin pushing in from the west. Cloudy skies will continue into the night, followed by more snow as the next low pushes across Saskatchewan. Snow will push across the Red River Vallye after midnight as temperatures will rise to around -5 °C by Wednesday morning.

The snow will again taper off early in the day as it pushes off to the northeast. Snowfall totals across the region will vary with only around 2 cm over the southern Red River Valley and 5–10 cm over western Manitoba southwards to the Trans-Canada Highway corridor. The City of Winnipeg will likely get 4–8 cm of snow with this system. Temperatures will climb to a few degrees below freezing on Wednesday afternoon, then dip slightly on Wednesday night back towards -5 or -6 °C.

Cloudy skies will continue into Thursday, but light northwest winds will start to drag cooler temperatures back into the region. Temperatures will fall through the day towards -10 °C with a chance of some flurries. Temperatures will dip into the mid-minus teens by Friday morning with some clear breaks developing overnight.

Long Range Outlook

The region will see near-seasonal temperatures through the weekend with variable cloudiness. No notable weather system swill be moving though, so all in all it will be a relatively pleasant New Year’s Eve and start to the new year. Daytime highs will hover in the -10 to -15 °C range with overnight lows also in the minus teens.

Long-range weather models are showing the potential for some light snow to start off next week along with another wave of milder temperatures.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -12 °C while the seasonal overnight low is -22 °C.