Our first April showers..

Winnipeg had its first "April showers" today as a line of convective cloud (towering cumulus) moved through this afternoon around 2:30-3 pm (see satellite image). Didn't bring much rain.. only a trace or so at my place.. but it was nice to see the first signs of convection today.. signs that thunderstorm season is not too far away! I must admit though I wouldn't mind another few weeks of sunny dry warm weather to enjoy before our summer storm season starts!

Nice weekend on tap

Looks like a nice spring weekend coming up for Winnipeg and southern MB, with sunny skies and temperatures of 13 to 15C. Winds should be light, especially Saturday which will make those temperatures feel even nicer, given that strengthening April sunshine. Maybe it'll be enough to start melting the last of those snowbanks still on my lawn! Whatever the case, the weather up here this weekend will be a lot nicer than down in Eastern Ontario and New England this weekend, where a major nor'easter is forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds along the Atlantic coast, with heavy wet snow inland over the Applachians and interior New England, possibly extending back into eastern Ontario as well. Better them than us!

2006-07 Snowfall Stats

As we wind up the snow season, I thought I'd post some preliminary snowfall statistics for Winnipeg up to the end of March as measured at my site in Charleswood. Overall, we had a little more snow than normal this past winter, but mostly due to one major snowfall at the end of December. Otherwise, it's been pretty average. As we Winnipegers know all too well however, snow season doesn't end until May around here, so these stats are not final yet(but let's hope they are!)


MONTH.........SNOWFALL.........NORMAL*..........DIFFERENCE

OCT 2006....... 19.4 cm ......... 5.0 cm ......... +14.4 cm
NOV 2006...... 20.4 cm .......... 21.4 cm ........ - 1.0 cm
DEC 2006 ..... 36.8 cm .......... 19.8 cm ........ +17.0 cm
JAN 2007 ...... 15.0 cm ......... 23.1 cm ........ - 8.1 cm
FEB 2007....... 21.0 cm ......... 14.2 cm ........ + 6.8 cm
MAR 2007...... 7.6 cm ........... 15.8 cm ........ - 8.2 cm

TOTAL......... 120.2 cm ......... 99.3 cm ........ +20.9 cm

(*NORMAL refers to average based on 1971-2000 period)

First measureable snow .................... Oct 10th (1.0 cm)
Beginning of persistent snow cover.... Nov 27 2006
Loss of persistent snowcover ............. Mar 28 2007
Deepest snowcover ........................... 51 cm (Mar 2, 3)
Most snow in 24 hours ...................... 29 cm (Dec 29-30)

Red River floodway opens

Water began flowing in the Red River floodway for the first time this year at about 9:30 this morning after an ice jam at the gates cleared on its own overnight.

The Red is expected to crest in Winnipeg in the next couple of days at about 18 feet above winter ice levels. That’s slightly higher than flood forecasters predicted earlier, but no where near high enough to cause much flooding. Only about a dozen homes will need to sandbag as a precaution.

The ice jam threatened to delay the raising of the floodway gates on the Red River at St. Norbert, and officials from Water Stewardship were rushing in heavy equipment to clear the large pans of ice overnight. But the pack at the floodway’s inlet moved on its own.

From the Winnipeg Free Press

Links:
Manitoba Flood Forecasting Reports
North Dakota Flood Forecast Maps

Winter's back!

Well, old man winter ain't dead yet. A sprawling Arctic airmass has pushed into the Prairies and will likely persist through the rest of the week. Temperatures in Southern MB over the next few days will average about 10 degrees below normal, with temperatures remaining below freezing right through Saturday. The good news is that no major storm systems are expected through the period so there shouldn't be any significant snowfall or freezing rain to contend with, at least not here in southern MB. Further south, it's a different story as a strong winter storm moves through the Dakotas and Minnesota tonight through tomorrow with 10 to 20 cm of snow possible from North Dakota into central Minnesota (including Grand Forks) Long range models are showing signs of milder weather returning by the end of the Easter holiday weekend into next week.