Tag: Windy

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.

Mild Snow Day Ushers In Cold Weather

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The work week will start off with some snow over southern Manitoba, followed by significantly colder temperatures than have been seen over the last couple weeks.

Today will bring snow to southern Manitoba, however what once looked like a solid 5-10 cm for Winnipeg will end up as just some [periods of] light snow as the bulk of the system passes to the southwest. While some areas across SW Manitoba will see up to 5-10 cm of new snow, the Red River Valley will see just a dusting to 4-8 cm over the far southwestern corner. Temperatures will be quite mild with daytime highs near the -1°C mark, but the winds will pick up for the afternoon out of the northeast to around 30 km/h with a bit of gustiness on top.

A majority of the snow associated with Monday’s snowfall is now expected to fall just southwest of Winnipeg.

Skies remain cloudy tonight with a continued chance for some flurries and a risk of freezing drizzle. Temperatures will drop to a low near -5°C.

Tuesday will bring a second, weaker disturbance across the province, this time dragging a more pronounced cold front southwards. There will be some light snow/flurries associated with this system that will persist until the passage of the cold front in the late afternoon/early evening. Temperatures will drop quite abruptly once the front moves through as skies clear out with breezy northwesterlies. Temperatures will continue to drop to a low near -20°C on Tuesday night.

Wednesday looks quiet as an area of high pressure moves through the region. Winds will be fairly light, and temperatures will reach a slightly below-seasonal high near -13°C under mainly sunny skies. It will be colder again on Wednesday night as temperatures dip to a low near -23°C.

Long Range

The remainder of the week will be fairly sunny with seasonal to slightly below-seasonal temperatures. A weak disturbance will move through on Saturday that may bring a dusting of snow, but temperatures will continue at near-seasonal values. It appears the large-scale weather pattern may shift early next week and bring milder, but snowier, weather back to southern Manitoba, so we’ll be keeping an eye on how that develops!

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

Massive Warm-Up On The Way

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Today will mark a bitterly cold end to the week, but significantly warmer weather is on the way as the jet stream pushes northwards and allows mild Pacific air to spill across the Prairies.

Unfortunately, before we get to the warmer weather, we have to make it through today which will be, generally speaking, miserable.

We’re off to a cold start with an extreme cold warning as temperatures sit below -30°C with wind chill values dipping below -40. Warmer weather will attempt to push into the region today, but cold air will be pumped northwards up the Red River Valley out of the Arctic high that is now to our southeast. This combination will make today particularly uncomfortable as our freezing, but relatively calm, morning turns into a cold and uncomfortably windy afternoon.

Temperatures will climb to a high near -19°C today but winds strengthen midday out of the south to 30-40 km/h, maintaining wind chill values near -30. These strong southerly winds will likely produce areas of poor visibility in blowing snow throughout the rural regions of the Red River Valley.

Winds will taper off tonight as the warm front finally pushes through the region, allowing warmer air to finally push into the Red River Valley.

The 4km NAM picks up on the stronger southerly winds of 30-40 *km/h* expected through the Red River Valley today.

Temperatures will dip just a few degrees to -22°C tonight.

Saturday will be much nicer with winds of 10-20 km/h out of the south-southwest, just a few clouds and a high near -12°C. We’ll see a few clouds overnight as temperatures drop to -15°C or so.

Sunday will be another nice day with mixed skies, winds of 15-25 km/h, and a high near -7°C. Skies will be clear on Sunday night with a low near -13°C.

Long Range

The good news is that even warmer air is on the way next week and it doesn’t look like it’s going to go anywhere any time soon.

There is fairly good agreement across multiple models and agencies that the upcoming pattern change will be prolonged and produce generally above-normal temperatures for the next 2-3 weeks. At the moment, next week looks warm with daytime highs climbing to the freezing mark with little precipitation expected.

Bitter Cold Seizes Winnipeg

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Some of the coldest temperatures of the year are on tap for Winnipeg as a final blast of Arctic air spills across Southern Manitoba. The bitter cold will be short-lived, however, as a major pattern change this weekend will begin spreading significantly milder air across the Prairies.

Today will be a cold one with a ridge of high pressure clearing skies out early this morning and temperatures reaching a high temperature of just -22°C. Winds will start the day off out of the west at around 20 km/h and shift to the south in the afternoon.

A weak low pressure system will round the base of the Polar Vortex tonight, swinging across southern Manitoba and bringing cloudy skies and some light flurry activity. The cloud cover will help prevent temperatures from dropping too low; early tonight temperatures will drop to around -26 or -27°C, but then begin to warm as the cloud moves in. By Thursday morning, the temperature will have climbed back to around the -20°C mark. No significant snow accumulations are expected.

A wide area of flurries are expected on Wednesday night with the passage of a weak low pressure system.

The overnight warming trend is all a cruel ruse, however, as winds shift northwesterly early Thursday and start ushering in the really cold air. Winds will strengthen to 30-40 km/h with gusts up to 50 km/h or so while temperatures drop to around -23°C. They’ll remain steady there as skies clear and winds gradually diminish through the afternoon.

A potent Arctic high pressure system will move in on Thursday night, bringing light winds and extremely cold temperatures. Extreme cold warnings are highly likely across all of Southern Manitoba on Thursday night as temperatures plummet to overnight lows in the -30 to -34°C range. At these temperatures, winds of just 5-12 km/h will produce wind chill values of -401 and winds of that speed are produced simply by the movement of the air as it cools. By late overnight into Friday morning wind chill values will be in the -40 to -45 range.

Friday will be a very tricky day with respect to temperatures. Warmer air will begin working into the region from the west as a low pressure system building into the northern Prairies begins shunting the cold air to the southeast. However, winds will increase out of the south to southeast, feeding cold air out of the Arctic ridge back up the Red River Valley. In a best-case scenario, temperatures would likely climb to a high near -17°C, but if the cold air clings on, temperatures will languish with highs near -21°C.

That said, it won’t feel great outside as winds out of the south strengthen to 30-40 km/h. Skies will be mainly clear through the day. Winds will taper off in the evening and temperatures will remain steady through the night with just a few clouds.

Long Range

The story changes next week: nothing but above-normal temperatures flooding the Prairies.

Above-normal temperatures (red) will spread eastwards across the Prairies by Monday.

The jet stream will shift northwards for next week, drawing mild Pacific air across the Rockies and the Prairies. An extended period of mild temperatures are expected with daytime highs climbing from around -6°C on Sunday to the 0°C mark by mid-week. The mild weather will likely continue through next weekend. Hooray!

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

  1. This wind chill value is Environment Canada’s criteria for issuing an extreme cold warning. ↩