Temperatures have already fallen to -35C at the Winnipeg airport as of 8 pm this evening.. and with clear skies and a light northwest flow, conditions are favourable for the airport site to drop to the -40C mark overnight. Note however that temperatures in the city are several degrees "warmer" as of 8 pm this evening, ranging from -27 at the Forks to -30 in the outskirts. You will notice that the Winnipeg airport site can get quite a bit colder at night than the rest of the city in a light northwest flow and clear skies. The weather station at the airport is located in a remote field on the northwest side of the airport, which seems to get some dramatic cold air drainage or radiative cooling in a light northwest flow. In these cases, the temperature at the Winnipeg airport is not very representative of the temperature elsewhere in the city.. which are often some 5 degrees "warmer" than the airport. This can easily be seen when looking at a Google map of city temperatures.
Regardless.. whether it's -35 or -40.. it's going to be a bitterly cold night!
Close but no cigar.. airport got down to -39.5C. We'll see it it can hit the mark early Monday..
ReplyDeleteWe have the same problem with the airport location here in Regina. On clear calm nights the temp is always at least 2-5 C colder than within the city. Now if the wind is blowing and/or it is cloudy, the difference is usually negligable.
ReplyDeleteDean in Regina - http://nwrweather.com