Temperatures will drop significantly below seasonal values over the coming days as Arctic air surges southwards behind the Alberta clipper that brought mild temperatures to the region on Tuesday.

An Alberta clipper exiting the province this morning will usher in significantly cooler temperatures. Northwesterly winds will increase to 40 gusting 60 km/h this morning, cooling temperatures to around -5°C in the Red River Valley by late this afternoon. This cooling trend combined with the wind will make for a positively miserable feeling day. The morning cloud will break up, leaving mixed skies in Winnipeg and the Red River Valley, but the cold air diving southwards will produce instability in the lower atmosphere, bringing a chance of flurries that will persist until evening.

Winds will taper off this evening and Winnipeg will head towards an overnight low near -10°C under partly cloudy skies.

On Thursday, a mid-level disturbance moving from central Alberta southeastwards into North Dakota will bring increasing cloudiness to Winnipeg. Temperatures will reach a high near -5°C by midday, but then the Arctic front will drop southwards through the Red River Valley and send temperatures plummeting. Northerly winds of 20 to 30 km/h will persist behind the Arctic front into the evening. Much of southern Manitoba will see the potential for flurries along the Arctic front on Thursday afternoon.

Significantly colder temperatures will move into the region behind the Arctic front, sending overnight lows down towards -19°C.¹

Friday will be a downright chilly late-march day with partly cloudy skies as more clouds pop up for the afternoon. Light northwesterly winds of 10 to 20 km/h will continue with temperatures climbing to a high near -9°C. Temperatures should drop to a low near -18°C once again on Friday night.

Long Range Outlook

Temperatures will moderate slightly on the weekend, but the trend of below-seasonal temperatures is forecast to continue into the middle of next week. No significant precipitation events are forecast for the next 7 days.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently 4°C while the seasonal overnight low is -7°C.

1. Sometimes models struggle with overnight lows under Arctic ridges. The GDPS is forecasting a low near -23°C, but tends to cool too much due to excessive radiational cooling. Most other models have solutions closer to -13 to -15°C, but that is likely too warm. We’ve picked 19°C as a relatively happy medium, a couple degrees colder than the Barthrom calculation would suggest to account for the advective cooling in the evening. ↩

Several waves of snow will try to push into southern Manitoba over the coming days, but they will have to try and overcome dry air near the surface coming from an abnormally strong Arctic high.

A low pressure system building into Alberta today will spread cloud cover eastwards across the Prairies. This cloud will push into Winnipeg through the day, bringing gradually increasing cloud cover. With some sun, temperatures should be able to climb to a high near 4°C. Winds will be a bit of an issue, however, increasing out of the southeast to around 30 km/h. Snow will begin spreading into southwestern Manitoba in the afternoon, then attempting to move into the Red River Valley this evening.

The snow will have a worthy adversary in the form of a large Arctic ridge over Ontario that will supply the Red River Valley with dry air. This will undercut the band of snow, weakening it and significantly slow down its eastward progress. Some light snow will likely arrive in Winnipeg late overnight into Saturday morning. Winds will continue out of the southeast at 20 to 30 km/h. Temperatures will drop to a low near -4°C.

Saturday will bring a bit of light snow in the morning with southerly winds continuing at around 30 gusting 50 km/h. Snow should taper off by midday, leaving behind cloudy skies. Temperatures will be cooler than Friday with a high near +1°C. A second low pressure system will move into the Prairies on Saturday night, bringing stronger southerly winds of 40 gusting 60 km/h to Winnipeg by early Sunday morning along with some snow. At this point, it looks like a few evening flurries will intensify into accumulating snow through the second half of Saturday night. Temperatures will dip to a low near -2°C.

Sunday morning should bring accumulating snow to Winnipeg with 2 to 5 cm of snow by the time it tapers off midday. The wind will diminish rather quickly in the morning as the low moves into Manitoba. Temperatures will be near-seasonal with a high near +2°C.

Long Range Outlook

Next week looks like it will bring variable cloudiness to Winnipeg with several chances of light snow. Temperatures will remain more or less near-seasonal, possibly shifting to just slightly below-seasonal in the latter half of the week.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently 2°C while the seasonal overnight low is -9°C.

Winnipeg will see a mixed bag of conditions over the coming days as seasonal temperatures build back into southern Manitoba.

Winnipeg will finally move towards seasonal temperatures as the icy grip of Arctic air is shown the door by milder Pacific air spreading eastwards across the Prairies. To round out the work week, Winnipeg will see mainly sunny skies once a bit of morning cloud moves out of the region. Temperatures will climb to around -8°C, just a tad warmer than it was yesterday. Skies should remain mainly clear tonight with temperatures dipping down to around -17°C.

Warmer air will push into the region for Saturday, but it will come with those wonderful southerly winds that Winnipeg so often receives when warmer weather is on the way. Temperatures will climb to a high near -5°C, but those southerly winds will strengthen to 30 to 40 km/h with gusts up to 60 km/h by Saturday afternoon. Skies will start off sunny, but by mid- to late-afternoon, cloud will begin moving into the region from the south. The wind will taper off through the evening as skies continue to cloud over. Some light snow will move into southern Manitoba overnight, but nothing more than a skiff is expected. Besides bringing the snow, the cloudy skies will help temperatures remain a bit milder with a low near -11°C expected in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg will see cloudy skies on Sunday with any remaining light snow tapering off in the morning. Winds will be much lighter, and temperatures will climb to a high near -4°C. Winnipeg may see some clear breaks on Sunday night, but more cloud will begin pushing in early Monday morning as another low pressure system moves into the region.

Long Range Outlook

Milder temperatures look like they’re here to stay, with seasonal to slightly above seasonal temperatures remaining in place for much of next week. Precipitation still looks minimal, though, with no significant snow expected in the coming week.

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

Winnipeg will see variable cloudiness over the next several days with breezy conditions while the city is given a brief reprieve from unseasonably cold temperatures.

Today will be a considerably more pleasant day in Winnipeg than yesterday was, with a much warmer high near -8°C this afternoon as a weak low moving into the Interlake ushers a seasonal air mass into the region. Winds will be a bit breezy out of the south this afternoon, strengthening to around 20 to 30 km/h and producing wind chill values in the -15 to -20 range. This will still be much more pleasant than the -35 wind chills Winnipeg saw for much of Thursday. Winnipeg should see plenty of sun through the first half of the day, but clouds will begin moving into the region in the afternoon as the low approaches, with skies becoming cloudy by mid-afternoon. Expect cloudy skies on Friday night with just a slight chance of some non-accumulating light snow. Winnipeg should see a low near -15°C.

Saturday will see skies clear out early in the morning with temperatures recovering to a high near -10°C. Winds will be breezy out of the west at around 30 gusting to 50 km/h, creating wind chill values near -20. The Arctic front will slump back southwards on Saturday evening, bringing more cloud to the region as temperatures drop to a low near -21°C. There will be just a slight chance of some non-accumulating light snow on Saturday night.

With Winnipeg behind the Arctic front once again on Sunday, temperatures will be well below seasonal with a high near -17°C. Any cloud left in the region should clear out midday, and winds will be out of the north at around 10 to 15 km/h, creating wind chill values near -25. With clear skies much of Sunday night, temperatures will drop to a well below-seasonal low near -25°C.

Long Range Outlook

In what is becoming a notable trend, Winnipeg’s long-range forecast continues to lack any significant precipitation, with nothing more than a trace of precipitation forecast in the next 7-10 days. Passing systems will bring some cloud to the region, but generally speaking, things will remain dry. Below-normal temperatures will likely persist into the middle of next week, but then a trend towards more seasonal temperatures is expected.

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