More Mild Weather Ahead

Southern Manitoba will see seasonably warm temperatures today as mild air streams into the region aloft.
Southern Manitoba will see seasonably warm temperatures today as mild air streams into the region aloft.

The Red River Valley will bask once again in above-normal temperatures as another shot of warm air pushes up from the south. We’ll have mixed skies and a somewhat stiff southerly wind accompanying the warmer temperatures, but it should still be fairly pleasant for mid-November nonetheless.

Today

Friday

7°C / -1°C
A mixed sky; mild and windy.

We’ll see mixed skies develop today with some patchy fog throughout the Red River Valley this morning which means, especially when combined with some ice on the roads, drivers – especially highway driving – should take care if travelling through the earlier hours of the morning. Winds will increase to 30–50km/h out of the south by midday as the warmer air pushes in. Temperatures will climb to around 6–7°C, perhaps a degree higher if the clouds break up sooner than later, for a daytime high some 10°C above normal! More cloud will roll in tonight as another disturbance begins pushing into Central Manitoba. A band of snow will set up through the Parkland region eastwards through the northern Interlake, but here in the Red River Valley we’ll just see increasing cloud through the night as we drop to a low of only around –1°C.

The Weekend

Saturday

4°C / -3°C
Cloudy & mild.

Saturday will bring more mild weather despite having mostly cloudy skies through the day. Precipitation is unlikely for us; at this point it appears that everything or to our east. If the entire setup ends up a little further west, we might see a very slight risk of a shower, but as I said, I think that’s quite unlikely. Other than that, Saturday will be quite an uneventful day here in Winnipeg. Winds will be light as we sit in the middle of a large surface trough stationed over the area.

Sunday

↘ -5°C / -12°C
A mix of sun and cloud.

Sunday will see cooler air to our NW finally pushing back into the region. Our temperature will drop to near –5°C through the morning hours and then remain there for the rest of the day. Sunday night will see the true return of the Arctic air as temperatures dip all the way into the minus teens. Winds will be out of the northwest at 20–30km/h. No precipitation is expected. Or is it?

12hr. Precipitation accumulations from the NAM heading into Sunday morning.
12hr. Precipitation accumulations from the NAM heading into Sunday morning.

While most models are pushing the system that will be in the area the next few days off to our east as it intensifies on Sunday, the NAM has hinted at it not pushing off quite so quickly. In one of its solution, the system intensifies further west, developing an area of heavy snow right on top of the Red River Valley. If this solution panned out, that would mean easily 10–20cm of snow by the end of Sunday. At this point, though, I don’t quite have enough faith in the NAM to say it’s likely. There’s overwhelming consensus throughout every other Canadian and European model that things will move off to the east, to the point where this solution of the NAM can’t be looked at as anything more than an anomaly.

Sometimes these interesting little anomalies end up being the right answer though, so we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on things and providing updates if things trend towards a snowier solution on Sunday.

Snow On The Way

A low pressure system pushing eastwards across the Southern Prairies and the Northern Plains will spread snow and rain into Southern Manitoba today.  Amounts are not expected to be significant in the Red River Valley – especially in areas near the international border – but it will be one of the first “snowy” days of the year.


Total forecast precipitation (liquid-eqivalent) from Friday morning to Saturday morning.
Total forecast precipitation (liquid-eqivalent) from Friday morning to Saturday morning.

Today

Friday

2°C / -2°C
Cloudy with light snow beginning this afternoon.

Precipitation will begin pushing into the southern Red River Valley later this morning and into the northern half of the valley, including Winnipeg, this afternoon as the low pressure system begins working it’s way into the region.  Precipitation will fall mainly as snow through the northern half of the Red River Valley while in the southern half of the valley some light rain will be more likely. Naturally there will be a transition zone somewhere in the central RRV where amounts will not be too significant with only a cm or two falling here in Winnipeg at most.  Further south, up to a 3–4mm of rain could fall.  Light snow will taper off in the evening leaving behind a chance of some flurry activity through the overnight hours.  We’ll see a low dipping just below 0°C.

The Weekend

Saturday

2°C / -6°C
Mainly cloudy; chance of flurries.

Saturday will be a mainly cloudy day with a slight chance of flurries throughout as cool, somewhat unstable air continues to push south behind the low.  No significant accumulations are expected and we’ll climb to a high of around 2°C.  The winds will be a somewhat gusty 30km/h out of the northwest through the day.  Through the overnight things will be mainly cloudy, although a few breaks in the cloud are expected, as we dip to a low of about –6°C.

Sunday

-2°C / -13°C
Mixed skies; slight chance of isolated morning flurries.

On Sunday skies will improve while temperatures do not.  We’ll see a mixed sky with a high of only –1 or –2°C.  A few light flurries may be possible in Winnipeg in the morning as we may be just grazed by a weak system passing through the Interlake.  Cooler air will continue to filter southwards through the day and drop us to a very chilly –12 or –13°C on Sunday night under mainly clear skies.

After that, a fairly sunny, cool and quiet week is ahead next week as a large arctic ridge dominates the weather over the Eastern Prairies.

Cool & Quiet; Light Snow To End the Week?

We’ll stay the course with cool, benign weather through the remainder of the week as weather systems stay well to our north and south.

Wednesday

1°C / -8°C
Cool; mixed skies.
Thursday

1°C / -7°C
Mainly sunny.
Friday

1°C / -5°C
Cloudy; chance of snow in the afternoon.

Today and tomorrow with both bring a high near 1°C, albeit with mixed skies today and mainly sunny skies tomorrow.  Tonight and tomorrow will both drop down into the low minus single digits.

Friday will bring the next chance for snow to our area as a low pressure system pushes across the Southern Prairies.  Skies will cloud up early in the morning and temperatures will climb to 1 or 2°C.  By the afternoon, the chance for some light snow will push into Winnipeg and the Red River Valley.  The chance for light snow looks to last through Friday night and into Saturday morning, perhaps even into Saturday afternoon.  The snow potential for Friday and Friday night looks the best with the chance for some stronger bands, while on Saturday it seems like there’s just a slight risk for some light flurry activity.  That being said, it still only looks like perhaps a cm or two at most would fall over the region, if any at all.

The main uncertainty with the snow for Friday centres around the fact that as the system approaches Southern Manitoba, a second low is forecast to develop through the Dakotas which will consolidate the heavier snow down towards it. At this point, it looks like the heaviest snowfall (perhaps as much as 1-1.5 inches) will fall through North Dakota. If the Dakota low ends up tracking a little further north, it’s possible that we’ll see some accumulating snowfall in areas close to the US border. We’ll keep an eye on this system and have an in depth look in Friday’s post.

After that things look like we’ll be settling back into a benign pattern with little activity expected until mid-week and cool temperatures with highs near 0°C.

Cool and Calm

The weather this week will be cool and calm, meaning no big weather makers are in the forecast.

Early Week

Monday

Mix of Sun and Cloud. Slight Chance of Flurries.
4°C / -1°C
Tuesday

Mainly Cloudy
2°C / -8°C
Wednesday

Mainly Sunny
0°C / -8°C

Monday will be a seasonably warm day in Southern Manitoba. A cold front will pass through in the morning, causing the wind to shift to westerly. Temperatures will be in the low to mid single digits.

Tuesday should see seasonable conditions continue in Southern Manitoba. Temperatures will be in the low single digits with a light westerly wind.

Wednesday will be very similar to Tuesday, with temperatures once again in the low single digits and winds being light.

Long Range

The long-range forecast looks to feature mostly seasonal weather. However, we’ll likely see our first snowfall of this fall at some point in the next 5-10 days. It probably won’t be a significant snowfall, but a snowfall nonetheless.