Well, it's been awhile, but Winnipeg and southern Manitoba will be enduring a spell of below normal temperatures over the next few days, something we haven't experienced in a while. In fact, the last time Winnipeg saw more than 2 consecutive days below normal was back in late February when we had a stretch of 5 days that averaged below normal. Average highs in Winnipeg are now +8C and it looks like we'll be generally below that mark through mid week. Milder air is expected by Thursday with temperatures returning back into the mid teens. The good news is that conditions this week should be dry with no significant precipitation expected until later in the week into the weekend.As I noted in a previous post.. the record breaking warm start to spring this March should not be viewed as a sign that the threat of cold weather is over for us. Of the past 9 warmest Marches in Winnipeg, all had some snow in April, and all were followed by a cooler than normal May.. suggesting an increased chance of a "backward spring" following a warm start.
Its incredibly windy out here in La Salle. Judging by the shingles lifting and my fence I would say its gusting to over 70 km.
ReplyDeleteEven the dog didn't want to go for a walk.
Does anyone know what month we had the "most" snow for 2011/2012?
ReplyDeleteReally black clouds coming in from the south! Any idea of how much rain we will get if it hits us?
ReplyDeleteNorth i ment to say
ReplyDeleteThose clouds are associated with a cold front dropping south from the Interlake with colder air behind it. Radar shows quite a bit of precip coming in with the front, but the air is very dry so a lot of the precip is evaporating before it hits the ground. However we could see some flurries this evening as the front moves through, along with gusty northwest winds and temperature falling below freezing. Not a pleasant evening as we fall below normal for a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteQuite a surprise that it went up to 9.6C yesterday!
ReplyDeleteA cold and blustery morning out there with occasional snowflurries occurring in and around the city. Even had a little heavier burst of snow hit the north end of the city with a coating of snow earlier this morning. Radar shows bands of flurries in the northwest flow.. possibly being enhanced with some open water over Lake Manitoba.
ReplyDeleteBig time wake up call when you step out the door this morning!
ReplyDeleteCheck out conditions in Yorkton to see the effect that snow cover has. A forecast high of -4 today and -15 tonight! That's like early March weather.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that dump of heavy snow on the weekend over east central SK shows up quite nicely on the satellite imagery today. 30-50 cm reported through the Quill Lakes area up through Nipawin which has been slow to melt given the below freezing temperatures since Sunday. Will be interesting to see how cold that snow covered area gets tonight with clear skies, and light winds right under the ridge overnight. (I'm thinking there may be a -18C or -20C there by Tuesday morning)
ReplyDeleteSignificant open water at Gimli as far as the eye could see today.
ReplyDeleteIs this the earliest that lake Winnipeg has been open?
That ice in the Boat slips is the only ice one can see from the restaurant. (see Gimli web cam Robs-obs)
ReplyDeleteA colleague of mine mentioned that a friend of his who is a long time resident of Gimli has never seen the ice out this early. There's still a lot of ice in mid lake and further north, but even so.. it's remarkable to see so much open water this early.
ReplyDeleteI really doubt that it will go down to -11C tonight!
ReplyDeleteNAM data has been added to the SpotWx.com website. I've added the NAM graphical output for YWG on the "GRAPHS" section on my main webpage, under the forecast icon beside the GEM graphical forecasts.
ReplyDeleteRemember.. it's still only model data.. but it's a great way to view model output for a specific point.
Rob, I believe I read somewhere that the last 12 months in the US are the warmest on record. I believe that for Winnipeg the warmest year on record was in 1987 with a yearly mean temp of 5.4C. I believe that the last 12 months up to March are about 5.9C. Is this the warmest 12 month stretch in the history of Winnipeg or was there a warmer period?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous..
ReplyDeleteI did some number crunching (thank goodness for Excel!), and the last 12 months through March have averaged +5.7C in Winnipeg. That indeed is the warmest 12 month period on record here since 1872. The previous warmest 12 month span was Dec 1877-Nov 1878 with a mean of +5.6C (thanks mainly to the warmest winter on record of 1877-78) As you noted, the warmest calendar year in Winnipeg was 1987 at +5.4C.
Global warming???
ReplyDeleteLOL....Just Joking!!!
HA HA......guys???? Guys I was just joking!!
Hudson Bay Company weather records date back to the early 18th century for sites in Manitoba see Climate Change and Weather Observations Along Hudson Bay I suspect the records would include info on Ice Breakup ( Lake Winnipeg though not necessarily at Gimli
ReplyDeleteAlso, a Link to a CBC story yesterday of Lake Winnipeg Breakup
Surreal to sit and eat lunch and watch the somewhat rough lake Winnipeg breakers in Early April
Jim
What a difference for the overnight low at the airport -11C vs The Forks -5C.
ReplyDeleteThanks for those links Jim. The ice cover on the lakes shows up quite nicely today on visible satellite imagery. There's still quite a bit of ice on the eastern side of lake Winnipeg but the west side has opened right up (in the south basin). Lake Manitoba looks pretty much free of solid ice, but you can see some remnant thin ice still on it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting link on the Hudson Bay climate records. I hope that someday those records can be digitized for easier and more widespread access to that wealth of valuable climate data.
Satellite imagery showing plume of smoke this afternoon around the Langruth area on the western shore of Lake Manitoba. Not sure if it's a grass or brush fire, or from a farmer's field..
ReplyDeleteReally black clouds coming in from the south! Any idea of how much rain we will get if it hits us?
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