Mild Weather Returns to Winnipeg

Brad Leave a comment

A return to spring weather has arrived for Southern Manitoba with temperatures returning to seasonal to above-seasonal values for the remainder of the week. Plenty of clouds will be in place today, but sunnier skies will move in for Thursday and Friday, making for a great end to the work week.

Wednesday
8°C / -3°C
Mainly cloudy

Thursday
10°C / -2°C
A few clouds; chance of showers

Friday
10°C / -2°C
Mainly sunny

Today will be a fairly cloudy day thanks to a low pressure system moving through the Northern Plains of the United States. While the precipitation associated with the system will remain south of the border, a fair amount of cloud will push into our region making for a bit of a dreary day. Fortunately, temperatures will return to seasonal values with a high today near 8°C. Clouds will clear out overnight with the temperature dropping to around –3°C.

GPDS 6hr. QPF – Valid 00Z Friday April 10, 2015
A weak disturbance slumping southwards into the Red River Valley will bring a slight chance of showers to Winnipeg on Thursday.

Thursday and Friday will both be mainly sunny days with highs near 10°C and lows near –2°C. Little in the way of weather is expected on Friday, however tomorrow a weak disturbance slumping southeastwards will push into the Red River Valley and bring just a slight chance of showers late in the day to Winnipeg.

A Look At The Weekend

This weekend looks quite nice for Southern Manitoba with daytime highs in the teens and plenty of sunshine. Winds look fairly calm through the weekend, although they may end up breezy out of the south sometime Sunday for a few hours as a tough line approaches. As the trough moves through, we may see some shower activity on Sunday afternoon.

All in all a fairly nice weekend with a welcome return to warmer temperatures.

Gradually Warming Up

Scott Leave a comment

Temperatures will gradually warm this week as we move back into more spring-like conditions.

Monday will remain cool as a strong high pressure sits just off to our north
Monday will remain cool as a strong high pressure sits just off to our north

Monday

Monday
1°C / -4°C
Mainly Sunny

Today will remain on the cool side as a surface high remains parked off to our north. This high will keep arctic-ish air over southern Manitoba, suppressing high temperatures to near the freezing mark. Winds will be light however, making for a pleasant, but slightly chilly day.

Tuesday

Tuesday
4°C / -1°C
Mix of sun and cloud

Tuesday will see a slight uptick in temperatures over Monday, with values climbing a few degrees above zero. Skies will be a mixture of sun and cloud and winds will be breezy from the east. There may be a bit of snow on Tuesday night as a strong upper-impulse moves through, but accumulations will be small.

Wednesday

Wednesday
7°C / 0°C
Mainly Sunny

Wednesday will see temperatures increase further, with highs in the mid to upper single digits in southern Manitoba. Skies should remain mainly sunny with light winds, making for a nice day!

Long Range

The long range forecast shows increasingly warm temperatures toward the end of the week. Models suggest that above-normal weather will last into mid-April at least. This means highs frequently into the teens and very long range models even show our first 20C readings of the year!

Elsewhere in Weather News: April 4th, 2015

Matthieu Leave a comment

Rare Rainfall Event Strikes Chile

A rainfall event that occurred near the end of March in Northern Chile did some major damage to numerous towns in the region. The storm system that brought the rain was the product of an upper level low that remained nearly stationary for several days in the area. The rainfall amounts, which might seem insignificant to Manitobans, are significant for that area because the storm system brought rain to one of the few places on the planet that receives very little precipitation every year – the Atacama Desert.

[map autofit=”1″ disable_scrollwheel=”1″][pin]Santiago[/pin][pin]Antofagasta[/pin][/map]

The flooding and mud flow event affected about 30,000 Chileans and destroyed 5,900 houses.  In the hardest hit regions only about 65mm of rain fell, but due to the extremely dry soil conditions in the region – which have trouble letting rainfall percolate through – flooding occurred. According to Wundergroud meteorologist Jeff Masters, Antofagasta recorded 24.4mm of rain in 24 hours while their average precipitation per year is 3.8mm. Santiago, Chile recorded 35.7mm of rain during the event, which is a significant amount in comparison to the 6mm total rainfall they typically receive during the entire month of March.

Aerial images of a flooded region in the Atacama just south of Antofagasta. (Source: Reuters)
Aerial images of a flooded region in the Atacama just south of Antofagasta. (Source: Reuters)

The flooding rains triggered flash floods which swept away cars, houses and washed away one of Chile’s main highways in 3 places in the normally arid part of northern Chile. In total, 24 people have perished from this event and there are still over 50 that are missing where the mud flows occurred. Rescue efforts are still ongoing for people in remote locations and the cleanup in the towns has begun as 7,000 troops have been brought in.

In other news, the Philippines are expecting typhoon Maysak to make landfall this weekend. Maysak was once a super typhoon (category 5) but has since encountered cooler waters of the Western Pacific and has weakened to a category 1 typhoon as of Friday night. The main risk with this storm is the heavy rainfall that it will bring to the Northern Philippines.

Unseasonably Cool Weekend Ahead

Brad Leave a comment

Unseasonably cool temperatures will be seen across all of Manitoba through the duration of the Easter long weekend thanks to an Arctic air mass that was ushered into the region behind a potent cold front that brought intense snow showers and strong winds yesterday. In addition to the cooler temperatures, the s-word will likely be seen in many regions along and south of the Trans-Canada corridor over the next couple days.

Friday
-1°C / -9°C
Flurries beginning midday
Saturday
-3°C / -12°C
Morning snow likely, then clearing
Sunday
-2°C / -10°C
Mainly sunny & cool

A clear and cold start to the day in Winnipeg will see more cloud move into the area through the morning as a weak disturbance slides through the region. Flurries will move into the Red River Valley midday and linger into the evening. Winds will be light and daytime highs will climb to around -1°C. A chance for flurries will persist overnight as another weak disturbance begins approaching from Saskatchewan. Temperatures will dip to around -9°C tonight.

RDPS 24hr. QPF – Valid 12Z April 4, 2015
Precipitation totals forecast by the RDPS from Friday morning through Saturday morning.

As the next disturbance ripples through tomorrow morning, it will push an area of snow through the province. Amounts from this band will be around 1cm and will be centered from the Parkland region southeastwards into the southwestern Red River Valley. Winnipeg will be on the northern edge of the system and will likely see some snow through the morning hours. Once the disturbance moves past, clearing will begin pushing into the Red River Valley. Daytime highs will be a bit cooler than today at around -3°C or so with winds out of the north at 20km/h. Saturday night will bring mainly clear skies and a low near -12°C.

Sunday will be another cool, but mainly sunny, day. For areas near the U.S. border, the story will be different as a low pressure system moving through the States pushes a band of flurries through the region Saturday night into Sunday morning. Highs will be around -2°C on Sunday with lows down to -10°C on Sunday night.

Long Range

Next week is looking like a return to form; daytime highs are expected to rebound to a seasonal 6°C by mid-week at the latest when a chance for showers returns as another low pressure system moves through Manitoba. Before then, we’ll see plenty of sunshine making for fairly pleasant days despite the slightly cooler-than-normal temperatures.