Thunderstorms swamp Winnipeg, southern Manitoba for second day..

Strong to severe thunderstorms pummelled southern Manitoba once again Saturday, dumping very heavy rainfall across much of southern Manitoba along with hail and wind gusts over 100 km/h. The Red River valley was particularly hard hit with 50-150 mm of rainfall recorded (see image from Grand Forks NEXRAD showing radar rainfall estimate over southern Red River valley). Winnipeg was swamped with 50-100 mm of rain Saturday causing numerous problems with flooded basements and underpasses, and rapidly rising river levels. (see time lapse video of storm as it moved through downtown Winnipeg late Saturday afternoon) Northeastern parts of the city including East Kildonan and Transcona were particularly hard hit with city gauges reporting up to 108 mm of rain Saturday through Saturday night. The rain comes on top of the heavy rain that fell across the northern Red River valley Friday when 50-80 mm was recorded in some areas. Below are some rainfall totals for the past 24 and 48 hours recorded up to 6 am this morning.

Location            total rainfall     total rainfall
         Last 24 hours      last 48 hours

Winnipeg, the forks     73.6 mm           95.0 mm
Winnipeg, airport       57.5 mm           82.6 mm
Emerson                102.2 mm          110.4 mm
Portage la Prairie      89.8 mm           91.4 mm
Pinawa                  80.6 mm           87.8 mm
Brandon                 63.0 mm           63.0 mm
Carberry                46.2 mm           46.4 mm
Carman                  23.4 mm           49.4 mm
Gimli                   18.0 mm           26.0 mm
Sprague                 13.2 mm           48.4 mm

Other reports from past 24 hours..

Pembina ND........... 170 mm (6.73")
Emerson..................165 mm (unofficial but reliable)
Winnipeg Charleswood.. 71 mm (108 mm past 48 hours)
Oakbank............... 91 mm
Selkirk............... 78 mm
Beausejour............ 75 mm

24HR RAINFALL GRAPH WINNIPEG CHARLESWOOD
8 AM MAY 29 - 8 AM MAY 30



Rainfall graph from Rob's Obs, Charleswood showing precipitation past 24 hours. The rain came in two waves, with 24 mm between 8 and 10 am, then another 42 mm between 6 and 11 pm. This comes on top of the 37 mm recorded Friday morning between 5 and 10 am.

Severe thunderstorms, heavy rain hitting southern MB again..

Unsettled weather continues over southern MB today with more locally heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms. Heavy rain has set up just west and northwest of Winnipeg with local rainfall amounts of 40-65 mm reported. This band will be coming through Winnipeg this evening with more heavy rain likely.. which will compound local flooding concerns due to the heavy rains over the past day or so. Further south and east, severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds are possible over the southern Red River valley and southeast Manitoba this evening.

Morning thunderstorms swamp northern Red River valley with heavy rain..

A line of thunderstorms ahead of a warm front produced heavy rain across the northern Red River valley Friday morning. The storms rolled into Winnipeg about 5 am and continued through much of the morning, dumping 25 to 40 mm of rain across the city by 10 am. A lightning strike even knocked off part of a church tower downtown around 6:45 am. The line of thunderstorms settled just south of the city between 8 and 10 am, dumping heavy rains of 50 to 80 mm from Elm Creek through Starbuck and La Salle to Landmark. (see map below) The showers and thunderstorms this morning are a prelude to what is expected to be a wet weekend over the Red River valley with additional showers and thunderstorms through Saturday into Sunday that threatens more heavy rain. This will elevate local flooding concerns if the heaviest rainfall occurs in areas already hit hard by heavy rain today.

Map showing rainfall amounts (in mm) from Weatherbug network as of 10:30 am




Highest rainfall totals Friday morning from Weatherbug and Manitoba Agriculture networks..

Glenlea.......... 78 mm
Landmark......71 mm
Elm Creek.......63 mm
La Salle...........62 mm
Sanford.........61 mm
St Adolphe........56 mm
Starbuck.........55 mm

Wet weekend on the way..

It looks like May will be ending on a wet note as a slow moving low pressure system tracks across the Dakotas and southern Manitoba this weekend. This system will tap very warm and humid air over the central Plains producing several waves of showers and thunderstorms that have already spread into southwest Manitoba today. Additional showers and thunderstorms are likely tonight which will track across southern Manitoba overnight into Friday as a warm front settles along the international border. This front will mark the leading edge of very warm and moist air over the Dakotas with cooler air over the central Prairies. There will be a sharp temperature gradient across this front Friday with temperatures of 30C or more along and south of the US border, and only in the teens through the Manitoba Interlake. On Saturday the low pressure system and associated frontal trough will slowly move across southern Manitoba generating more showers and thunderstorms Saturday through Sunday. Rainfall could be heavy at times with local amounts of 50 to 75 mm possible across portions of southern and central Manitoba by Sunday evening. Cooler and unsettled weather will follow in the wake of the system early next week.

Strong winds today..

Strong south to southwest winds are expected across the Red River valley today as a deep low pressure system over eastern Saskatchewan tracks northward. An area of dry and unstable air over southern MB will tap very strong winds aloft (south 40-60 knots) to mix down to the surface, with sustained winds of 50-60 km/h, and gusts of 70-90 km/h at times. The strongest winds are expected through midday and afternoon before winds ease later today. Click here for live wind readings (in knots) from Winnipeg airport.