Cold Becoming Colder

Those looking for a reprieve from the cold will have to wait longer. Temperatures are set to remain cold throughout the week with even colder air set to move into the region for the weekend.

Today will bring a little sun and a little cloud to the region with temperatures climbing to a high near -18°C. There will be a slight chance of some light flurries, particularly in the afternoon and evening, but it won't amount to anything substantial. Skies will be clear tonight with temperatures plummeting to a low near -29°C as another surge of Arctic air pushes southwards behind a cold front that passed through late Tuesday evening. It doesn't look like we'll crack -30°C at this point, but we'll likely be flirting with the value.

Thursday will bring sunny skies and cold temperatures as a ridge of high pressure settles over the region. With a high of just -21 or -22°C, Winnipeg will be nearly 8°C below normal for this time of year. Thursday night won't be as cold, however, as "milder" air from the Yukon spreads southwards and eastwards into the region. The overnight low should be around -24 or -25°C on Friday morning.

The RDPS is suggesting temperatures may fall below -30°C early Thursday morning, but other models suggest slightly warmer temperatures.

Friday will see a return to highs above the -20°C mark with temperatures climbing to -18°C or so. Skies will be fairly cloudy as that weak disturbance carrying the Yukon "warmth" moves through, and there will be a slight chance of some light flurries through the day. Again, nothing particularly notable with just a dusting of snow possible. Temperatures will drop to around -26°C on Friday night under mixed to cloudy skies.

Long Range

The weekend is looking fairly brutal as another cold front moves through on Friday and ushers another, more powerful shot of Arctic air into Southern Manitoba.

An outbreak of bitterly cold Arctic air is expected this weekend.

This winter blast will push all the way south into Oklahoma, ensuring that the entire eastern half of the Canadian Prairies is entrenched in bitterly cold air. At this point, it seems quite likely temperatures will fall below -30°C on Saturday night alongside a good chance of widespread extreme cold warnings from Environment Canada.

The light at the end of the tunnel, though, is that warmer air is forecast to arrive next week as a powerful surge of Pacific air sweeps eastwards across the Prairies, sending highs back up into the minus single digits. There's a lot of uncertainty at this point, and I think that models are generally warming Winnipeg up too quickly with the cold weather likely hanging on an extra day with very windy conditions out of the south before the mild air actually arrives.

It seems quite likely that more seasonal to slightly above seasonal temperatures will be in place for the week leading up to Christmas.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -10°C while the seasonal overnight low is -20°C.

Here Comes The Deep Freeze

Now that the cleanup is underway after a brutal snowstorm that dumped over a foot of snow across many places in Southern Manitoba and produced white-out conditions that closed a majority of major highways across the region, cold Arctic air will spread southeastwards across the Prairies, bringing below-seasonal temperatures for the first time since mid-October.

Today will be a shockingly cold day with daytime highs of just -17°C as a ridge of Arctic high pressure builds into the region. Skies will be partly cloudy with light winds out of the west to northwest. There will be a slight chance of flurries as light lake-effect snow continues off of Lake Manitoba. Tonight will be very cold with mostly clear skies and a low near -26°C.

This impressively strong Arctic outbreak will send sub-freezing temperatures (blue) all the way to the Gulf of Mexico states.

This weekend will be cold. Saturday will see a high of just -18°C and a low near -25°C. There will be some cloud cover that works its way into the region in the afternoon as a disturbance slides through South Dakota, but other than a chance for some flurries near the US border, shouldn’t cause much weather for us.

Sunday will be a bit of a mixed bag with a few clouds likely in the morning, then some clearing, then increasing cloud as the next system that will affect us approaches. Temperatures will be a bit milder with highs near -16°C, but with winds picking up out of the south to 20-30 km/h, it will feel closer to -25. Sunday night will bring cloudy skies with an increasing chance of snow as temperatures drop just a couple degrees to a low near -18°C.

Long Range

Sunday night’s disturbance will bring a chance for flurries to Southern Manitoba alongside a shot of slightly-below seasonal temperatures, but on the back-side of it another shot of Arctic air will blast southeastwards and plunge temperatures back into the -20’s. Will we see our first -30°C low next week? Time will tell.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -9°C while the seasonal overnight low is -18°C.

Temperatures Will Be Cooler, But Remain Above Seasonal

Despite moving onto the back-side of a massive low pressure system with gusty northerly winds, Southern Manitoba won’t be falling into a deep freeze; the cooler temperatures moving in place will instead be cooler but still above typical seasonal values. Alongside the minor cool-down, the region will be dealing with periods of light snow as the low pressure system that brought a mix of rain and snow over the past couple days slowly moves off into Eastern Canada.

Skies will be mainly cloudy over the coming few days, with a slight chance of the odd ray of sunshine on Thursday and a better chance of skies becoming mixed on Friday. Temperatures will be relatively steady through the week as well, with temperatures steady near 0°C today giving way to daytime highs near -2°C on Thursday and Friday. Lows will fall just a few degrees below the highs, with lows near -5°C on Thursday and Friday. On the off chance that some clear patches show up at night, temperatures have the potential to plummet closer to the -9 or -10°C, but those values won’t be seen underneath cloudy skies.

The RDPS forecast shows light snow accumulatiosn across much of Southern Manitoba on Wednesday night through Thursday.
The RDPS forecast shows light snow accumulatiosn across much of Southern Manitoba on Wednesday night through Thursday.

Today will bring periods of light snow to the region, tapering off to scattered flurries tonight and through the next couple days. By Friday, any flurry activity should be relatively isolated. No notable accumulations are expected from the snow over the coming days.

Winds will be out of the north at 20-30 km/h through the day with a few gusts on top of that. The wind will diminish tonight, followed by light winds for Thursday and Friday.

November Looking To Take Top Spot As Warmest on Record

Winnipeg continues it’s incredibly warm winter with non-stop above-normal temperatures.

The average daily high temperature for November 2016 now sits at 7.4°C, beating out the previous record of 7.1°C set in 2009. The average daily low temperature for the month is now at -1.0°C, crushing the previous record of -3.2°C set in 1923. Combine the two, and the average daily mean temperature sits at 3.2°C, beating the 117 year old record of 1.3°C set in 1899 by almost 2°C.

The unprecedented warmth will fade as we head into December, though; all long-range guidance is suggesting a return to seasonal temperatures in the coming week. While colder air does look like it will begin working its way into the Prairies in the coming weeks, so far it appears most of it will remain west of Manitoba, leaving us with a continued stretch of near-seasonal temperatures ahead.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently -6°C while the seasonal overnight low is -15°C.

Cloudy & Cool Days Ahead

Winnipeg will be stuck in a fairly cloudy and cool second half to the work week as a broad upper-level trough remains entrenched over the region.

Cool & Relatively Dreary

While this morning may bring a few smiles with some sunshine, more cloud will quickly be moving back into Winnipeg, turning skies grey and leaving cool, fall-like weather in the wake. By early this afternoon, skies should be completely clouded up once again with temperatures topping out near 6°C. Winds will be out of the west-northwest at around 20-25 km/h with some gusts in the 30-40 km/h range.

Skies will remain fairly cloudy overnight with northwesterly winds continuing and temperatures dipping down to around 1°C.

Thursday morning will bring more cloudy skies with a slight chance of some shower or flurry activity as a weak band of lake-effect precipitation moves off of Lake Manitoba. It should dissipate by midday, and we’ll be left with cloudy skies that gradually begin to break up late in the afternoon, calm winds, and a high near 7°C.

Thursday night will bring a low once again near 1°C under partly cloudy skies.

Showers Possible Friday

A warm front moving across the Prairies on Friday will bring the chance of showers to the region alongside a shift to a warmer weather pattern.

A warm front will push eastwards across the Red River Valley on Friday.
A warm front will push eastwards across the Red River Valley on Friday.

By midday the chance for showers move into Winnipeg with winds picking up out of the south to 30-40 km/h. It doesn’t look like rainfall totals will be much to speak of (less than 2mm), but there may be just enough to make the ground wet.

The warmest air will remain to our south, however, so daytime highs will sit near 9°C. Friday night will bring a low near 2°C under partly cloudy skies.

Long Range

The weekend is looking slightly warmer with highs near 10°C and overnight lows continuing in the 1-2°C range. Skies will likely be mixed through the weekend and there may be another chance for some light shower activity on Saturday afternoon.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently 9°C while the seasonal overnight low is -2°C.