A push of warmer temperatures into Manitoba will send daytime highs soaring into the upper 20s today. Joining the warmth will be hazy skies as smoke from the northern Alberta forest fires moves in as well.

Winnipeg’s driving weather feature over the coming days will be an upper high shifting from northern Alberta to the Dakotas. It will have 2 major impacts for the region: warmer temperatures and smoke. First: the smoke.

As the upper high slumps southeastwards, the flow aloft will turn northwesterly. This will spread large amounts of smoke from the forest fires over northern Alberta across Saskatchewan into southern Manitoba. This smoke will be noticeable over the next few days, both aloft and as hazy conditions near the ground. If you have sensitivities to air quality be sure to keep an eye on the forecast AQHI values. Exactly when the smoke clears depends on how the large-scale weather pattern evolves near the end of the week. At this point it looks like there will still be some smoke and haze present on Friday with improvement on Saturday.

With the smoke out of the way, that leaves temperatures. While the smoke makes forecasting exact daytime highs tricky, this upper high will spread a hot air mass over part of the province. Temperatures will quickly climb into the mid-20’s by lunch today, then continue on to a high near 28°C this afternoon. Temperatures will stay warm tonight with a low near 13°C. Thursday will be another hot day with a high near 27°C. A cold front will push through on Friday morning, sending temperatures back to near-seasonal values to end the week.

Through all this, Winnipeg should see plenty of sunshine, albeit dimmed somewhat by the smoke. It doesn’t appear that Winnipeg will see any meaningful chances for rain, despite some cloud in the area Thursday morning as a warm front wavers through the region. The passage of the cold front also looks dry for Winnipeg.

Winds will be light today, only picking up out of the north to around 15-20 km/h this afternoon and remaining light and variable on Thursday. On Friday, the wind will pick up out of the north to around 30 gusting 50 km/h behind the passage of the warm front in the morning.

Long Range Outlook

This weekend will bring more sunshine to Winnipeg with the smoke likely clearing out on Saturday. On Sunday, the warm weather will come surging back into the province with daytime highs climbing into the upper 20s again. This time, it doesn’t look like smoke will affect southern Manitoba; the upper flow will be more westerly than northwesterly, keeping the smoke further north.

Today’s seasonal daytime high in Winnipeg is 22°C while the seasonal overnight low is 8°C.

Friday will bring one more hot and hazy day to Winnipeg before a passing low pressure system ushers cooler temperatures and widespread smoke into the region.

Winnipeg will see temperatures soar back up to the 30°C mark again today as a hot air mass remains in place over the region. The city will see varying levels of haze through the day under mainly sunny skies. Winds will remain light for much of the day. A low approaching from the west will spread southerly winds near 20 km/h into Winnipeg overnight. Temperatures will remain warm tonight as the southerly winds help keep the warmer temperatures near the surface. Winnipeg will see a low near 18°C.

Just in time for the weekend, a low pressure system passing through on Saturday morning will spread widespread smoke across the province. As it moves through on Saturday morning, it will push a cold front through the Red River Valley. The passage of this front will bring west-northwest winds of 20 to 30 km/h into the Red River Valley and usher in a smoky air mass that’s been in place over the western Prairies for several days. While the cold front will bring variable cloudiness to the region, the thicker smoke moving in aloft will cut down on any sunshine. Winnipeg’s temperature should top out near somewhere in the 22 to 25°C range, depending on the thickness and timing of the smoke. With the passage of the cold front there is a small chance of some showers, but the odds look very slim at the moment.

Temperatures will drop to a chilly low near 7°C with light winds on Saturday night. A strong ridge of high pressure moving in should push out the smoke overnight.

Sunday will be a much cooler day in Winnipeg as a high pressure system moves through the province. Indications at this point are that the smoke should have cleared out of the region, leaving Winnipeg with partly cloudy skies as some cloud develops in the afternoon. Daytime highs will climb to around 21°C in Winnipeg with light t northerly winds. The low should drop to around 12°C on Sunday night.

Long Range Outlook

Next week looks to start with a low pressure system moving through the province bringing cooler temperatures, cloud cover, and a chance for rain/thunderstorms. The pattern then gradually turns towards seasonal temperatures mid-week, followed by a return of unsettled conditions near the end of the week.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently 24°C while the seasonal overnight low is 10°C.