Exceptional Warmth Arrives

 Exceptional warmth will be arriving this weekend, thanks to a large area of high pressure off in eastern Canada creating a southerly flow on the eastern side. We have already experienced temperatures above zero  this trend looks to continue. Read on to find out more on the weekend ahead below... 

Friday: Should start off with mostly cloudy skies in southwestern sections of Manitoba, there will be some areas with partly to mostly cloudy skies come the afternoon hours in southwestern sections of Manitoba. Gorgeous sunny skies are forecast in southeastern sections of Manitoba. Mostly cloudy skies are expected for the latter half of the day for much of the south. Temperatures for the day on Friday will soar into the low to mid single digits (0 to 7C). The only exception will be areas on the Manitoba lakes where temperatures may struggle to rise above zero degrees (-1 to -4C). Winnipeg: Mostly sunny , cloudy in the late afternoon. High 5C. Brandon: Partly cloudy. High 5C. Dauphin: Mostly cloudy: High 5C, 

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy skies are expected within the sections of southwestern Manitoba , there is also a chance for some fog to develop over night into Saturday. Otherwise the rest of the region including Portage la prairie into northwestern Ontario can expect clear skies overnight. Temperatures will be mild overnight into Saturday!! Overnight lows will sit in the low to mid minus single digits (-3 to -8C), a tad colder in southeastern sections. A few areas in the parklands could see lows from 0 to 2C. Winnipeg: Clear, low -5C Brandon: Cloudy, low -5C. Dauphin: Cloudy. Low 0C. 

Saturday: Gorgeous weather is expected for Saturday, mostly sunny skies are expected with very little cloud cover with the exception of a few portions of south western Manitoba. The warmest temperatures appear to occur in the western red river valley area into the parklands in the mid single digits to the low teens, (5 to 12C) with cooler low to mid single digit temperatures (0 to 7C) expected in south western Manitoba as well as south eastern sections of the province. Winnipeg: Sunny, high 7C. Brandon: Sunny, high 8C. Dauphin: Sunny high 12C.

Saturday Night: A warm front will move through the overnight period into the morning. Along with another area of low pressure sitting along the border. There is a risk for freezing rain overnight into Sunday in small patches from southwestern Manitoba into the Red River valley. Stay tuned to Manitoba Weather Center for this matter.  Cloudy skies are expected for a majority of the night which will prevent temperatures from dropping below zero for a majority of the southern half. There might be some melting overnight into Sunday, temperatures will drop into the low single digits (1 to 4C), with a few areas below zero in the parklands and over the lakes. Winnipeg: Cloudy. Risk of freezing rain ,low 1C. Brandon: Cloudy, risk of freezing rain. low -1C. Dauphin: Cloudy, low 0C. 

Sunday: The forecast gets a little bit more complicated for Sunday as model data starts to diverge on a solution with a low pressure system moving through the area, the NAM is depicting a large area of rain mixed with snow, where as the RDPS does not depict any precipitation moving through the region. As well the GFS shows smaller amounts precipitation occurring on Sunday. As a result I’ll be making a forecast conclusion that there will be a chance for rain showers in the afternoon on Sunday under partly cloudy skies in areas in the southern half of the province. Temperatures for will soar once again, now I’m gonna make you all jealous temperatures south of the border will soar into the high teens, with Grand Forks possibly getting as high as 18°C . That warmth will filter north into the western red river valley (Portage La Prairie north to Dauphin then southeast, to Winnipeg south to the American border by pilot mound and into Gretna/Emerson) including Winnipeg with temperatures in the low to mid teens (10 to 15C). South eastern portions of Manitoba into the inter lakes will likely sit in the high single digits (6 to 10C), with areas of south western Manitoba in the low to mid single digits this also includes the parklands. See photo above on the headline. Winnipeg: Sunny. High 12C. Brandon: Sunny, high 5C. Dauphin: Sunny, high 10C. 

Sunday Night: A cold front will be coming through the region , allowing clearer skies with patches of light cloud cover. Temperatures will drop slightly overnight with a northwesterly flow aloft. Low to mid single digit  lows are expected overnight into Monday for the majority of the region (-3C to -8C). Winnipeg: Clear, low -5C. Brandon: Clear, low -9C. Dauphin: Clear, low -1C. 

Early next week: The exceptional warm weather continues for the beginning of our week with temperatures continuing to be above zero with another shot at temperatures in the low to mid single digits and the low teens possibly. Into the mid week there appears to be another low pressure system on the way for the day on Tuesday. Models are all over the place. Some are saying rain with a switch over to snow potentially, others are hinting at only rain with a small risk for thunderstorms. Earlier one said we had a snowstorm risk. As usual forecasts aren’t accurate about 3+ days out, even in this day and age. Well know more as we get near the start of the week. 

Enjoy the warmth, hopefully spring weather stays!!

-Mike