Frigid start to March

Early morning lows across southern MB -  March 1 2014
Winnipeg came within 0.8C of record low for Mar 1 (-37.8C Mar 1 1962)
Note sub -40C readings in Wasagaming and Carberry
(map courtesy of @jjcwpg)

It was a frigid start to March over southern MB as a massive outbreak of Arctic air swept across the Prairies overnight.  Temperatures early this morning bottomed out in the -35 to -40C range over much of southern MB, with the coldest reading of -42.8C at Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park.  In Winnipeg, the temperature fell to a low of -37.0C, over 20C below normal for March 1st (normal low of -15C)  The reading came within 0.8C of the record low for the day, which was set during a similar Arctic outbreak in 1962 when Winnipeg hit a record low of -37.8C on March 1st.  (That 1962 Arctic outbreak was even colder than this year's, with temperatures bottoming out at -41.7C in Brandon, and -45.6C in Sprague!)

Wind chills got down as low as -50 in Winnipeg
around 7 am on March 1 2014 setting a
new record low wind chill for March

The cold temperatures this morning were made even worse by winds of 15-20 km/h that produced dangerous wind chills down to -50 in Winnipeg around 7 am (-36C with a 18 km/h wind).  That set a new all time record low wind chill for March in Winnipeg, beating the previous low of -49 set on March 1 1962. (Note: Wind chill records only go back to 1953 in Winnipeg. They were not calculated before then) The cold conditions continued through the day with an afternoon high of only -26.0C, over 20C below normal for the day (normal high of -5C)  That was cold enough to set a new record low maximum for the day in Winnipeg (previously -22.2C on March 1st 1972) and was also the 2nd coldest maximum daily temperature ever in March (second only to a high of -26.7C set on March 7 1880)

In addition, the average temperature of -31.5C for the day made it the second coldest March day on record in Winnipeg since 1872, behind the -32.0C daily average of March 7 1880 (max -26.7C, min -37.2C)   Note that the daily average of -31.5C was about 21C below normal for the day (normal for March 1st is about -10.5C)  Daily anomalies of 20C are very rare, and indicate extreme out of season type weather. The last time Winnipeg had a daily anomaly of more than 20C was on March 19 2012 when we posted our warmest March day ever at 23.7C (with a low of 13.3C) That day was 23C ABOVE normal. In other words, yesterday's cold for this time of year was as unusual as the warmth was in 2012! An interesting statistic that really highlights the extreme volatility we've seen in the weather these past couple of years.

The unseasonably cold weather will continue for the next few days, but a moderating trend is expected by the end of next week as temperatures climb closer towards normal for early March.