Category: Forecasts

Spring Warmth Brings Showers

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Springtime warmth will arrive in Winnipeg as temperatures climb above the freezing mark, but the warmer weather will be accompanied by some rain and snow as a low pressure system moves through the region.

Today will be a very pleasant day in Winnipeg with sunny skies in the morning giving way to mixed skies with temperatures climbing to a high near -2°C.1 Winds will pick up out of the south to around 30 km/h this afternoon. Tonight will bring increasing cloudiness overnight as temperatures drop to a low near -5°C with southerly winds continuing at 20-30 km/h.

Tomorrow will be the mildest day of the next few as an approaching low pressure system moves through the region. Skies will be mainly cloudy to start the day and continue to be cloudy for the remainder of the day. A warm front will move across the Red River Valley through the afternoon, bringing milder temperatures as highs climb to around the +3°C mark. Along with the warmer weather, rain will spread across the Red River Valley in the afternoon with the warm front.2 It appears at this point that the Red River Valley will likely receive 2-4 mm of rain, so nothing too dramatic, although there are some models indicating the potential for 10-15 mm.

The RDPS model is a bit more enthusiastic than the other models, producing around 10mm of rain in the Red River Valley.

The light rain will end in the evening, followed quickly by the winds diminishing. The cloudy skies and warm air over the Red River Valley will keep overnight lows fairly warm, with Winnipeg dropping to around 0°C for a low. Towards early Friday morning, winds will then pick back up out of the northwest as the cold front swings through, which will bring cooler temperatures back into the region.

Friday will continue with mainly cloudy skies and fairly strong northwesterly winds to 40-50 km/h. Temperatures will remain steady near 0°C as any diurnal warming will be offset by the cooler air mass moving into the region. Throughout much of the day there will a decent chance for light snow, but no accumulations are expected at this point.

Friday night will bring diminishing winds, clearing skies, and cooler temperatures with overnight lows dropping to around -14°C.

Long Range

The weekend is looking quite pleasant with partly cloudy skies both Saturday and Sunday and high temperatures climbing back to above normal. At this point, Sunday is looking like it could be quite warm with highs in the 4-8°C range, although those warmer temperatures would likely come with a decent southerly wind. The hope at this point is that any precipitation associated with this warm-up will move across the central and northern Prairies, leaving us dry.

Into next week it looks like a return to near-seasonal temperatures and dry conditions.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -1°C while the seasonal overnight low is -11°C.

  1. While our high is forecast for the airport location, it's quite likely several sites across Winnipeg see high temperatures closer to +1 or +2°C. ↩
  2. There's a chance that the early stages of the precipitation fall as snow if temperatures haven't warmed quite enough yet, but the transition to rain would follow quickly. ↩

A Return to Seasonal Temperatures

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Winnipeg will see calm weather through the first half of the week filled with plenty of sunshine as temperatures return to more seasonal values.

It’s another short and sweet forecast today with little weather in store for Winnipeg over the next couple days.

Today & tomorrow will both be sunny days, however temperatures will remain below normal. Today will see a high near -10°C, and there will be another chilly night ahead with a low near -20°C. Tuesday will be milder, with highs climbing to around the -5°C mark with southerly winds to 15-20 km/h. Expect a low near -12°C on Tuesday night.

Warmer air will be pushing eastwards over the coming few days.

Wednesday will see cloud cover move into the region, creating mixed to cloudy skies, as even milder air pushes eastwards. Highs will climb to around -2°C with strengthening southerly winds to around 30 km/h. Lows will be mild on Wednesday night near the -4 or -5°C mark.

Long Range

NAEFS 8-14 Day Temperature Anomaly Forecast — Valid March 20-27, 2017

Temperatures will moderate towards seasonal values for the long-range, however in the second half of this week temperatures will likely climb above-normal for a few days before returning to seasonal values for next week.

Precipitation wise, it looks like there will be a chance for some rain or snow this Thursday into Friday, and then the threat for a more potent storm system for the start of next week.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -2°C while the seasonal overnight low is -12°C.

A Quiet, Unseasonably Cold Weekend Ahead

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There’s not too much to say about the upcoming weekend, which is a bit of relief after the relentless storm earlier this week. Below-normal temperatures and sunny skies ahead.

Temperatures over the coming few days will be well below normal due to a rather potent Arctic ridge entrenched over the region. The upside to the colder weather is that we’ll see plenty of sunshine for the next couple days before some cloud, and warmer temperatures, moves in for Sunday.

The Arctic ridge over the Prairies will keep temperatures well below normal across a vast swath of Canada.

So for both today & tomorrow, expect highs near -15 to -13°C, with overnight lows in the -20 to -25°C range. Skies will be sunny today, but more mixed tomorrow as some cloud cover moves in from the west ahead of the next disturbance that will clip across southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.

The bigger change will come on Sunday as the disturbance clips through the region. Skies will be mainly cloudy, although it should be noted that Winnipeg may see a little more sunshine if the system edges just a little bit southwards or more cloud if it tracks a bit further north. Temperatures will also warm up a tad with highs climbing towards the -10°C mark but lows will still be quite cool on Sunday night, bottoming out near -19°C.

Long Range

While a few weak clipper systems are expected to pass over southwestern Manitoba over the coming week, it looks to remain fairly dry here in the Red River Valley. Temperatures will move towards seasonal to above-seasonal mid-week, and with that shift to warmer weather we may see a bit of precipitation, but at this point it’s simply too early to tell.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -3°C while the seasonal overnight low is -13°C.

Wild Winter Storm Winds Down

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Residents of southern Manitoba can breathe a sigh of relief as conditions begin to improve as the major winter storm that has been hammering the province begins to move off into the Arctic.

Today will bring relief to southern Manitoba as the strong westerly to northwesterly winds in place over the region begin to subside. These winds have created havoc over southwestern Manitoba where some of the worst blizzard conditions in recent memory developed on Monday and persisted throughout the day and into the night on Tuesday. Brandon saw blizzard conditions begin around 5PM on Monday evening and persist all through Tuesday. Numerous motorists had to be rescued from area highways, despite significant notice of extremely poor conditions being given in advance of this storm by Environment Canada.1

This winter storm was driven by a powerful low pressure system that stretched all the way from Western Saskatchewan to Labrador on Tuesday evening.

Winds will subside through the day from around 50 gusting 70 km/h this morning to 30 gusting 50 km/h around midday as the low pushes off to the northeast, allowing the pressure gradient to begin to slacken over the southern portion of the province. While the winds will still be a bit gusty, they should be low enough for visibilities to improve. Temperatures will be cool, however, with a high temperature of just -10°C. Skies will start the day cloudy but break up to more of a mix in the morning.

Skies will be partly cloudy tonight as temperatures drop to a chilly -20°C.

A ridge of high pressure will push into Manitoba from the northwest, ushering colder temperatures into the province.

Thursday will see much colder air pushing into the province as a ridge of high pressure builds into the region. Temperatures will struggle to recover much through the day with highs expected to climb only to around the -17°C mark. This is nearly 15°C below normal for this time of year. Winds will be out of the northwest at around 20-30 km/h under partly cloudy skies. Temperatures will drop even further below normal on Thursday night with lows dipping down to around -27°C under clear skies with light winds.

Friday will be a cool and sunny day with little wind. Highs will be around -17 or -16°C with a low on Friday night near -21°C.

Long Range

The below-normal temperatures will continue through the weekend and into the beginning of next week, although there will be a gradual climb towards near-seasonal conditions. No significant snowfall is expected for Winnipeg the next 7 days.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -3°C while the seasonal overnight low is -13°C.

  1. Environment Canada issued several special weather statements regarding the storm as well as blizzard warnings well in advance of the storm’s onset. ↩