Halloween weather in Winnipeg

The weather is not looking too frightful this year for Halloween in southern Manitoba. Pleasant conditions are expected with afternoon highs slightly above normal at +8C under partly sunny skies and light winds. Temperatures are expected to be near +5C around 6 pm falling to 0C by midnight for evening trick or treaters. Last year, Winnipeg had a high of +5C on Halloween, with patchy drizzle in the evening and temperatures near +2C.  Overall, the weather is not looking too bad for this time of year, which history has shown can range from pleasant to downright terrifying in Winnipeg on Halloween. Some of the more significant Halloween weather Winnipeg and area has experienced since 1950 includes..

1955.. A steady snow starts around midday Halloween and continues through the evening. 9 cm of snow accumulates by midnight with evening temperatures near -2C. This snowfall would signal the start of Winnipeg's snowiest winter on record, with a phenomenal 252 cm of snow falling by April, over twice a normal winter snowfall.

1957, 1958 ... 2 consecutive mild Halloweens, with sunny 15C weather.

1971... Winnipeg's whitest Halloween. An early season snowstorm starts on the morning of the 30th and continues until the early morning of the 31st. By the time it was over, 28 cm of snow had fallen on the city turning Halloween into a winter wonderland. 18 cm of snow was still on the ground the morning of Oct 31st.

1979... Winnipeg's scariest Halloween.. weatherwise. Rain and wet snow during the afternoon changes to steady snow in the evening, accompanied by northerly winds of 50 km/h gusting as high as 78 km/h and temperatures near the 0C mark. Although only 2 cm of wet snow fell in Winnipeg, heavier amounts of 15-25 cm fell east of the city to the Ontario border. Winnipeg police reported it was one of the quietest Halloweens they ever had due to the poor weather keeping many home. Twas a night fit for neither man nor beast.

1990... One of Winnipeg's warmest Halloweens with a high temperature of 17.2C.

1991 ... One year later, it was one of the coldest Halloweens on record with a high of -7.5C and a low of -15.3C in Winnipeg, along with 4 cm of snow on the ground. Temperatures ranged between -8C and -10C Halloween evening, but winds were light so windchill was not a big issue.  Further south, Minnesota was being clobbered by a massive early season blizzard that dumped over 36" of snow in Duluth and 28" of snow in Minneapolis.       

1996..  Another cold Halloween with a daily high of -3.4C and a low of -12.8C along with 2 cm of snow on the ground. Evening temperatures were between  -8C and -12C, but 15 km/h winds produced windchills of -15 to -19C, making it feel even colder than 1991.      

1999 ... Warmest Halloween in modern times. Temperatures climb to a high of 17.7C in Winnipeg, while the mercury soars to 24C over the southern Red River valley at Emerson and Gretna. Temperatures were still at a balmy 16C Halloween evening in Winnipeg making it feel more like the end of September than October.

2000 .. A soggy Halloween. 11.6 mm of rain falls during one of Winnipeg's wettest Halloweens. At least it was mild with highs near 13C but also fog and mist to add to the spooky atmosphere.  

Whatever the weather, have a safe and enjoyable Halloween!  

Clipper to bring first snow of season to SW Manitoba into North Dakota.. pattern change to colder weather

12 hr snowfall amounts from RGEM
valid 7 am Sun Oct 20 2013
dark blue: 1 cm, darker green: 5 cm

A clipper system over Saskatchewan today will track into North Dakota tonight bringing the first accumulating snow of the season to parts of SW Manitoba and North Dakota. The precipitation is expected to push into SW Manitoba later today into this evening, possibly starting as rain before changing to all snow tonight. About 2-5 cm of snow is expected along a path from the Roblin/Riding Mtn Park area through Brandon into the Pilot Mound/Turtle Mtn area into North Dakota. Locally higher amounts are possible over higher elevations. The system will track into North Dakota Sunday and will signal a pattern change to colder than normal weather over southern MB for the balance of the week, likely persisting through the rest of the month. Occasional snowshowers are likely Sunday across southern MB, including Winnipeg, with localized heavier snowbands possible to the south of lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba.  Ready or not folks.. colder weather is on the way!  

Pleasant fall weather continues through mid week.. Storm system threatens rain by end of week

Pleasant fall weather will continue over southern MB over the next couple of days as an upper ridge crosses Manitoba maintaining dry and warmer than normal conditions. Temperatures will climb to the 20C mark Tuesday with partly sunny skies and light breezes.  Temperatures will remain above normal in the mid to upper teens through Thursday before the next threat of rain by Friday as a Colorado low storm system tracks into southern MB. At this point, it appears that the bulk of heaviest rain with this system will be over western MB and along the SK border where 25 to 50 mm is possible Friday into early Saturday.

Nice finish to a nice month..

September will be ending on a mainly sunny and warm note today over the Red River valley as a southwest flow of  mild air pushes temperatures into the low 20s this afternoon. A weak cold front will push in from the west later today into this evening bringing a slight chance of showers, ushering in slightly cooler and windy conditions for the first day of October. Brisk westerly winds Tuesday will be gusting to 60 or 70 km/h but temperatures will remain above normal with highs in the upper teens with a mix of sun and cloud. Normal highs at this time of year are now around the 15C mark. Above normal temperatures are expected to continue through midweek before cooler and more unsettled conditions move in for the end of the week. All in all, a nice stretch of weather to end off September which will finish some 3C above normal for the month.

Showers finally clip Winnipeg.. heavier rain likely over SE Manitoba Friday into Saturday

An area of showers and scattered thunderstorms over the western RRV pushed north across Winnipeg late this morning, bringing about 5.5 mm of rain to Winnipeg airport through midday. It wasn't much, but it was the most significant rainfall in the city since August 18th when 30 mm fell during a thunderstorm. Today's rainfall brought the monthly total to 10.5 mm at YWG airport, still well below the normal September rainfall of 45.5 mm (1981-2010 average)

24 hr rainfall amounts from GGEM
through Sat evening. Yellow marks
15 mm, orange 25 mm, green 5 mm. 

Regardless, the rain was welcome, and we could be in for some more rain Friday into Saturday as a stationary frontal system sets up along the MB/Ontario border, with a couple waves of rain spreading north along the boundary. At this point, it looks like the bulk of the heaviest rain will be over SE Manitoba into Lake of the Woods/NW Ontario where 25-50 mm of rain is possible by Saturday evening. (see image left) Amounts will be less over Winnipeg and the RRV, with a sharp dropoff in rain amounts west of the RRV. For Winnipeg, rainfall amounts of 5-10 mm are possible Friday afternoon into Saturday morning with higher amounts expected east of the city. However, if the rain shield edges further west as some models have been suggesting, Winnipeg could also see higher amounts.

UPDATE: (7 pm Sept 28) Rainfall amounts through 7 pm (since midnight)

Winnipeg airport ...............  20 mm
Winnipeg Forks ................  24 mm
Winnipeg Charleswood .....  24 mm   (Rob's Obs)

Sprague ............................  45 mm  (95 mm since Friday morning)
Kenora .............................. 40 mm  (88 mm since Friday morning)
Falcon Lake ....................... 33 mm
Dugald ............................... 31 mm
Selkirk ............................... 31 mm
Steinbach ..........................  26 mm
Pinawa ............................... 25 mm
Letellier .............................. 21 mm
Emerson ............................  20 mm
Morris ...............................  19 mm
Morden .............................. 16 mm
Winkler .............................  15 mm
Carman .............................  13 mm
Portage LP ........................    7 mm

Data sources... Env Canada, MB agriculture and WxUnderground sites. Data is unofficial and has not been quality controlled.