Extensive cloud cover across the Red River Valley and southeastern Manitoba threatens to spoil the opportunity to see this year’s rare solar eclipse. On the flip side, if you’ve been waiting for some moisture, showers are likely across the Red River Valley today.
An upper-level disturbance tracking along the international border today will spread clouds and showers across Southern Manitoba early this morning and into the afternoon. Amounts will be rather low, with general amounts of 1-4 mm expected, although a bit of elevated instability associated with the system may end up producing some heavier showers or thundershowers that result in isolated patches of 5-10 mm of rain. Winds will be light out of the south to southwest until a cold front approaches in the afternoon, shifting the winds behind it to the northwest at 20-30 km/h. Temperatures will be cool due to all the cloud cover and/or showers with highs across the Red River Valley near 22°C.
Unfortunately, it will likely be mainly cloudy across all of the Red River Valley during the solar eclipse.1 The image above shows what it would look like for our region should we see sunshine; even at 75% obscuration, there would actually be only a marginal impact on overall brightness and it would not be nearly as dramatic as areas along 90%+ obscuration or the path of totality, where temperatures will actually drop a few degrees because the loss of sun is so substantial. Note: There is a small chance that the cloud cover may break up for a bit around the eclipse time; we’ll be keeping an eye on it and post updates on social media if that seems to be the case!
The cloud will begin moving out in the afternoon and if there manages to be enough sunshine, it could trigger an isolated thundershower or two along an approaching cold front. Temperatures will dip to a low near 12°C under partly cloudy skies on Monday night.
Tuesday will also be a cool day across the region as a colder airmass moves in with a northwesterly flow. Winds will breezy at 30-40 km/h as temperatures once again climb to near the 22°C mark once again. Skies will be partly cloudy, and by the afternoon there will be a slight chance of a shower developing in the Interlake and drifting south/southeastwards along a weak trough that develops through the region. The chance for rain will likely be confined to Winnipeg & the northern Red River Valley. Temperatures will head to a low near 11°C as winds taper off and skies clear on Tuesday night.
Wednesday will see a return to more seasonal conditions. Winds will be light as a ridge of high pressure moves through the region and temperatures will reach a high near 24°C under partly cloudy skies. Expect mixed skies and a low near 12°C on Wednesday night with a slight chance of some showers as a frontal boundary slumps southwards.
Long Range
The latter half of the week looks quite summer-like with temperatures back into the upper 20’s and a fair amount of sunshine skies. There will be another chance of showers on Thursday night into Friday morning as that same boundary that moved through on Wednesday night reverses and starts heading back northwards.
The next large-scale organized chance for rain comes on Saturday as a large push of warm air moves into the region, producing showers and thunderstorms from northern Saskatchewan to South Dakota. It won’t be a solid line, and intensity will vary, so it’s going to be the kind of situation where it won’t be too clear until much closer to the event.
After Saturday’s system, it looks quite pleasant with near-seasonal temperatures and sunny skies.
Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently 24°C while the seasonal overnight low is 11°C.
- The solar eclipse begins at 11:40AM, peaks with 75% obscuration at 12:57PM CDT, and ends at 2:15PM. If by chance we see sun, under no circumstances should you look at the eclipse without eye protection. Blindness can occur in as little as 20-30 seconds. ↩
