Warm and windy end to August..

The gusty southerly winds that developed over Winnipeg Wednesday continue today, with winds even stronger than yesterday. A southerly low level jet of 50 to 55 knots is seen this morning between 850 and 900 mb, with 40 knots just above the surface. This is stronger than yesterday's low level winds, which should give Winnipeg southerly winds gusting to 70 km/h at times today. The strong southerly flow is ahead of a cold front moving through western Manitoba this morning bringing some scattered shower and thunderstorm activity west of Winnipeg. This front will push through the Red River valley later today into tonight giving a threat of some much needed rain. After some beneficial rains in the first half of August, rainfall has been scarce again over the last half of the month here in Winnipeg which is about to record its third or 4th driest summer on record (depending on if we get any rainfall before midnight tonight) It will also be one of the warmest summers on record, with a mean of 19.8C over the June-August period. (normal 18.3) The warmest summer on record was back in 1961 with a summer average of 20.4C