With the heavy snow across the region over the past 24 hours, winter has finally arrived to the Winnipeg area. Though no more snow is in the forecast, cool weather will stick around for the foreseeable future.

There’s a blanket of white over Winnipeg today thanks to a good 10 to 15 cm of snow that fell across the city late yesterday into the night. We had talked about the potential for more snow in our last forecast, and as we expressed some concern, the system did end up shifting a bit further north — about 50 to 75 km further — than many forecast models had predicted. That said, Winnipeg ended up getting off relatively easy; to the south and east of the city, anywhere from 15 to 25 cm fell. As a result, a marked shift in temperatures will now settle over the region as, even on sunny days, the snow reflects much of the incoming heat back where it came from.

The weather over the next few days will be fairly benign, much of anything quashed by a large Arctic ridge settling over the province. In Winnipeg, this will result in diminishing winds and seasonably cool temperatures. The city will see a high around the -5 °C mark over the next several days with lows dipping down into the mid-minus teens at night. The region will see a mix of sun and cloud over the coming days, though depending on how the air mass interacts with the still-open lakes, some cloudier periods will also be possible. If skies manage to stay clear through some of the upcoming nights, with the ground now snow-covered, overnight lows could fall closer to -20 °C through the Red River Valley.

Long Range Outlook

The cool but relatively benign weather will continue into next week, with the next notable weather system expected mid-week. The passing low could bring some light snow to the region, followed by a push of cooler temperatures into the following weekend.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is -1 °C while the seasonal overnight low is -9 °C.

Winnipeg will see a few cold days in the wake of yesterday’s Colorado Low, followed by a return to milder conditions on the weekend.

A push of colder air will settle over southern Manitoba in the wake of yesterday’s Colorado Low that moved through the province. With light west-northwest winds, daytime highs will only climb into the low single digits today and tomorrow. Skies will stay on the cloudier side as well, making for a rather chilly couple days. It should stay dry, but some lake-effect snow will be possible in the lee of both Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. The city will likely miss out on this activity, but some persistent flurries will definitely be possible to the north.

The cloud cover over the region will help keep it from getting too cold at night with lows close to -5 °C on both Tuesday night and Wednesday night. If some clear patches open up, then temperatures could dip closer to -10 °C.

Later this week, a zonal flow aloft will develop over the Prairies, cutting off the pipeline of Arctic air and allowing milder Pacific air into the region. On Thursday, that should allow highs to climb back to seasonal values in the upper single digits with more sunshine. It may get a bit windier out of the south, but that will help keep lows above freezing into Friday.

Long Range Outlook

By Friday, it looks like Winnipeg and area could be enjoying daytime highs in the low to mid-teens with mainly sunny skies. This pleasant and dry pattern will persist right through the weekend with highs continuing in the low teens. Long-range forecasts show a disturbance moving through the region on Tuesday, bringing some showers and a return to seasonal temperatures.

That said, aside from the next couple days, it looks like Winnipeg will be closing out October with beautiful weather. If early indications hold, Halloween could be one of the better ones this year with temperatures near 10 °C through the evening!

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is 7 °C while the seasonal overnight low is -3 °C.