Pleasant Monday, but Change is Coming

Monday will be a pleasant day in southern Manitoba, with slightly above seasonal temperatures and light winds. However, change is on the way for Tuesday and Wednesday as a strong low pressure system approaches the region.

A low pressure system will bring rain to southern Manitoba on Tuesday and Wednesday
A low pressure system will bring rain to southern Manitoba on Tuesday and Wednesday

Monday

Today will be a nice day in southern Manitoba. Temperatures will be in the upper single digits under mainly sunny skies and light winds. There may be some low cloud in the morning, but it should dissipate by the afternoon. Enjoy today, because the rest of the week won’t be quite so pleasant!

Tuesday

A low pressure system will move into southern Manitoba on Tuesday, bringing with it some light rainfall. Accumulations aren’t expected to be large, probably only 2-4 mm in the Red River Valley. Winds will be from the south-east at 30km/h gusting to 50km/h.

Wednesday

Tuesday’s system will stick around on Wednesday, bringing more rainfall to southern Manitoba. Additional accumulations of 5-10 mm look probable at this point, although it’s too early to make any firm predictions. The wind will make it feel quite unpleasant, with speeds of 40km/h gusting to 60km/h.

Long Range

The long range forecast continues to suggest a generally above-normal trend as we move into November. There will likely be a fair amount of variability in the weather as we continue moving deeper into fall, but that is not abnormal for this time of year. The interesting thing to watch moving forward will be the impact of El Nino on our weather. Typically, the effects of El Nino become stronger as we move into winter, so we will see if that is what happens this year.

Rainy & Unsettled Start to the Weekend

A weak Colorado Low will bring a swath of rain across Southern Manitoba today as it passes through the Northern Plains of the United States. The chance for rain will return on Saturday before a bit more stability moves into the region, resulting in a relatively pleasant late October weekend.

The main weather story today will be the Colorado Low passing to our south. Rain will begin fairly early this morning as it spreads up from the south through the Red River Valley and into the Interlake. The rain will persist through much of the day—although there may be a few lighter periods—and taper off in the evening.

Storm-Total Rainfall Outlook
Storm-total rainfall outlook for October 23, 2015

Much of Southern Manitoba will see between 5–15mm of rain, with generally lower accumulations west of the Red River Valley and increasing accumulations heading towards the southeast corner of the province. Here in Winnipeg, we’ll likely see close to 10mm of rain. Aside from the rain, the winds will be fairly light through the Red River Valley with daytime highs climbing to around 9°C. Heading into the evening hours, the wind will likely pick up a bit out of the northwest to 20–30km/h.

As the rain tapers off overnight, we’ll likely see the clouds scatter out and winds diminish. Temperatures will dip down to around 1°C.

Saturday will bring mixed skies and relatively light winds. Much of the day will be dry, but a secondary disturbance pushing in from the northwest will bring a batch of scattered showers through late in the afternoon or early evening and persisting into the overnight period. Temperatures will climb to around 13°C on Saturday and then drop down to around 2°C on Saturday night.

Sunday will be a pleasant day, despite being fairly cloudy. Winds should be relatively light and the daytime highs will be near 7°C. Clouds should clear out overnight, making for a cool low near –2 or –3°C.

Cooler Weather to Start Next Week

Much cooler weather will be in place to start next week with daytime highs likely in the 3–6°C range. Monday looks sunny but perhaps windy in the afternoon ahead of a forecast low pressure system that will bring a chance of rain to southern Manitoba on Tuesday. This system could potentially produce another moderate rainfall event, but it’s too early to really speculate too much. After that, the remainder of the week looks fairly quiet with more seasonal temperatures returning for the second half of the week.

Pleasant Fall Weather Gives Way to End of Week Rain

The weather will be relatively pleasant for late October over the next couple days with above-seasonal daytime highs expected and a fair amount of sunshine. Things will take turn on Friday for the end of the week as a Colorado Low sets its sights on Southern Manitoba and brings a decent shot of rain along with it.

Today will see the cloudy skies that start the day gradually break up and become mixed to partly cloudy. Winds will pick up through the morning and make for a fairly windy afternoon with gusty northwesterlies at 40–50km/h. Today’s daytime high near 12°C will be around 4–5°C above the normal daytime highs for this time of year. Heading into the evening, the winds will taper off and skies will clear as a ridge of high pressure pushes into the province. Expect an overnight low near –2°C.

Thursday will be quite a pleasant day with relatively light winds at 20–30km/h out of the southeast and a high once again near 12–13°C. Clouds will move in overnight as we head to a low near 5–6°C.

Forecast 12hr. precipitation accumulations for Friday from the GDPS
The GDPS is forecasting 10-15mm of rain over Southern Manitoba on Friday.

Friday will see the Colorado Low push into North Dakota and Minnesota, spreading an area of rain northwards into Southern Manitoba. There’s a surprising amount of agreement in the track of the low, but how much rain it will produce seems to be a tough topic. The Canadian Global model, pictured above, shows around 10–15mm through the day on Friday, however I think it’s a bit on the low side. My best forecast at this point is that 10–20mm of rain should be expected through the Red River Valley and southern Interlake on Saturday, however for areas in the RRV south of Winnipeg, particularly closer to the U.S. border, 15–25mm seems like a possibility depending on a number of factors.

Alongside the rain, our daytime high will climb to around 9°C. Winds won’t be too much of an issue and will remain relatively light out of the southeast switching to northwest in the evening. In the evening we’ll see the last of the rain taper off and head to a low near 4°C.

Cooler air looks to push in through the weekend behind the low, so enjoy the milder temperatures today and tomorrow!

Unseasonable Warmth Brings Chance of Rain

Unseasonably warm air will remain in place over Southern Manitoba for another day before a disturbance pushing eastwards across the Prairies brings a chance of rain and more seasonal temperatures for Tuesday. The “cool-down” will be short lived as above-seasonal temperatures are expected to return on Wednesday.

For the 42nd Canadian general election today, weather couldn’t be nicer for late October in Winnipeg. Today will bring plenty of sunshine and light winds with a high near 15°C.1 Temperatures will be cool tonight at around 2°C under increasing cloudiness.

RDPS 3hr. QPF forecast for late Tuesday afternoon.
The RDPS shows precipitation pushing into southern Manitoba late Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday will be a mainly cloudy day with a cool northeast wind limiting our high to a more seasonal 9°C or so. There will be a chance of some shower activity through the afternoon and overnight period as a trough of low pressure pushes across the region, however amounts from the precipitation are expected to be fairly minimal with just a couple mm likely at most. With cloudy skies overnight, the low temperature will be kept a bit warmer at around 4°C.

Wednesday will see a return of the warmer weather.  Skies will clear through the morning hours letting the sun work a little bit of it’s late-season magic and bring us towards a high near 11°C with relatively light winds.  Expect a low near the freezing mark on Wednesday night under clear skies.

Long-Range Outlook

The second half of the work week looks quite pleasant with mainly sunny skies Wednesday & Thursday and warmer-than-seasonal daytime highs in the low teens.  Many weather models show a large low pressure system ejecting northeastwards out of Wyoming on Thursday night and pushing through Southern Manitoba on Friday, bringing a swath of rain across the region. There’s still quite a bit of uncertainty associated with that system, though, so we’ll keep eyes on it as the week goes on and take a closer look at it in our mid-week forecast!


  1. This is 7°C above the seasonal high temperature of 8°C for this time of year.