Unseasonable warmth arrives, unsettled weather to follow

 Much of southern Manitoba has been seeing normal temperatures and bouts of freezing rain especially in the red river valley. This trend has fortunately come to an end, there appears to be a brief warmup on the way for the region with some unsettled weather expected. Unfortunately we will be missing out on the near 20C temperatures expected south of the border in North Dakota and Montana, unusual to say the least for them. 

(Above) Wednesday will end up being the warmest of the week, temperatures as warm as 6 to 8C will be likely across the south. Maybe even over 10-20C south of the border). 

Wednesday: A warm front with a attendant low pressure system will be approaching the region with a chance that by the late morning and afternoon hours a batch of snow, freezing rain, and rain will all accompany the warm front. Snowfall accumulations are only expected to be between 1 to 5cm. This weather is expected to reach eastern Manitoba and Ontario by early to mid afternoon. Cloudy skies are likely for the afternoon hours with a small chance of showers in the afternoon hours. Temperatures will warm above zero for a good portion of the region, highs will end up sitting in the low to mid single digits (1 to 8C) for the afternoon. Wednesday Night: Heading into Wednesday night a arctic cold front will swing south along with it, partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies can be expected. Temperatures will drop into the low to mid minus single digits, the warmest of the lows can be expected in the southwest but colder as you move north and east into the interlakes and the rest of southern Manitoba (-1 to -5C). 

Thursday: A warm front will be approaching much of southern Manitoba and ahead of it some cloudy skies are likely, a high pressure system will start sinking south into the region we’ll be on the west side of it. Theres a small chance for flurries during the day as well. Temperatures during the day will soar into the mid to high minus single digits (-1 to -7C) with temperatures not getting any colder than -7C. Thursday night: A low pressure system is expected to travel through northern and central Manitoba, snow is expected there with the potential to drop as far south as Gimli. Areas along the border have a small chance of getting a brief flurry or shower as a stationary front moves into areas of south central Manitoba. Clearing skies are likely on Thursday evening with clear skies on Thursday night. Temperatures will stay warm overnight with lows only sitting in the mid to high minus single digits (-4 to -9C). 

Friday: The low pressure system that I mentioned on Thursday night will move into Ontario by Friday afternoon, with a cold front draped over northern Manitoba. A high pressure system will sit off to our south in North Dakota.  A slight chance of flurries can be expected as a northerly flow develops. The best chance for flurries appears to be off of the Manitoba lakes. Mostly cloudy skies can be expected in the south central and southeast regions. Sunny skies are expected elsewhere. Temperatures in the lower minus single digits can be expected (-1 to -5C). Friday night: Increasing clouds are likely ahead of a developing low pressure system in the northwestern united states. Temperatures will drop to the upper minus single digits (-5 to -10C). Areas in the interlakes will see lows in the low teens (-10 to -14C). 

The weekend: Much of the same can be expected with the exception being a possibility of snowfall on Saturday night into Sunday, too early to determine snowfall amounts for this system quite yet. Temperatures will fluctuate highs on Saturday will end up being in the upper minus single digits on Saturday (-5 to -10C), overnight lows much the same the exception being in the escarpment and dauphin regions where they may drop into the low minus teens below -10C to as cold as -15C. Sunday will be difficult,, temperatures might drop quite a bit after reaching there daytime highs in the early afternoon around the mid to high minus single digits before dropping into the low minus teens. Overnight temperatures will be significantly colder and it’ll be the end to the warmth we’ve been seeing with lows possibly into the low minus teens to near minus twenty Celcius. We will keep you updated if the models continue to signal snowfall and the cold temperatures. 

Next blog post comes in on Saturday. Have a good rest of your week. 😊😊😊. 

-Mike McGregor