Records melt in March warm spell..

An unseasonably warm airmass over southern Manitoba produced several record high temperatures today, including Winnipeg where a high of +12.8C was recorded, besting the previous record for March 11th of 12.5C set in 1981. Other records today included a toasty 14.8C in Pinawa (prev record 13.2C in 1995) and 14.6C in Melita. The MB hot spot was Wasagaming in Riding Mountain Natl Park at 15.8C. The record mild weather is forecast to continue through the rest of the week, with highs of +9-16C expected through Saturday along with a rapidly diminishing snowpack. In fact, it's possible that Winnipeg may see a string of record highs through the entire week!

Date... REC HIGH (year) - Winnipeg Airport (data since 1872)

Sun 11 ..... 12.8C (2012) (prev 12.5C 1981)
Mon 12 ..... 9.7C (2012) (prev 7.2C 1922)
Tue 13 ..... 12.2C (1902) (11.7C 2012)
Wed 14 .... 11.4C (1981) (10.2C 2012)
Thu 15 ..... 14.4C (2012) (prev 11.1C 1927)
Fri 16 ...... 19.9C (2012) (prev 12.4C 1981)
Sat 17 ...... 19.2C (2012) (prev 12.8C 1938)
Sun 18 ..... 20.9C (2012) (prev 14.4C 1910)
Mon 19 .... 23.7C (2012) (prev 18.9C 1938)

Spring has sprung!

The well advertised change to spring-like weather this weekend has commenced over southern Manitoba, with temperatures of 5-10C across the region this afternoon under beautiful blue skies. The warm temperatures and strong March sun are resulting in a rapid snow melt, with snow cover disappearing quickly over parts of southern MB. The warmest temperatures today are across southwest MB and the western RRV where snow cover is less, as well as forested areas which can warm up faster in the spring due to better solar absorption than snow covered surfaces. As of 3 pm today, Portage, Pilot Mound and Pinawa were the provincial hot spots at 11C, while Winnipeg airport was up to 6c. Even warmer temperatures were found south of the border with 16C in Minot ND, 18C in Jamestown and an amazing 22C in Bismarck! Well above normal temperatures will continue the rest of the week, with temperatures reaching double digits over most of southern MB as the snowpack continues to melt.

Snow spreading into southern MB.. risk of freezing rain overnight and Tuesday morning

A storm system over southern Saskatchewan will be spreading an area of snow into southern Manitoba tonight into Tuesday, especially over the Riding and Duck Mtn regions where snowfall warnings have been issued for 10-20 cm of snow. Snow is likely mainly north of the TransCanada into the Interlake regions, while areas along and south of the TransCanada will see a risk of freezing rain overnight into Tuesday morning as warmer air aloft spreads into the region. A cold front trailing from this system will push across southern MB late Tuesday ushering in colder air Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Light snow this morning.. more snow possible Monday

An area of light snow will be pushing across Winnipeg and the Red River valley this morning bringing a general dusting to 1 or 2 cm. This system will move out this morning, leaving partly cloudy skies for this afternoon into tonight. An Alberta clipper system is forecast to develop overnight into Monday and track along the international border, bringing a swath of more significant snow across the Yellowhead highway corridor of Saskatchewan into the Dauphin and Interlake areas where 5-10 cm of snow is possible Monday into Tuesday (see attached RGEM image showing 12 hr snowfall amounts between noon and midnight Monday Mar 5th). Winnipeg may see a few cm out of this system as well, however at this point, indications are the bulk of the snow from this system will occur mainly north of the city.

Some snow on the way tonight into Friday

A low pressure system over northwest North Dakota will track along the international border tonight into Friday, bringing some snow to southern MB. Snow will spread into SW Manitoba this afternoon and move into the RRV tonight. Snow will likely persist into Friday morning before tapering off in the afternoon. Snowfall amounts from this system are expected to range from 2 to 4 cm along the TransCanada corridor including Winnipeg, to 5-10 cm towards the international border. Colder conditions are expected this weekend in the wake of this system, before a return to milder weather early next week.

Updated storm totals: (March 2)

Snowfall was a lot more than expected with this storm system.. with amounts of 10 cm over Winnipeg and the northern RRV and up to 20 cm over the southern valley. Some snowfall totals reported over the past 24 hours..

Winnipeg.......... 10-12 cm
Stony Mtn ........ 9 cm
Landmark ........ 10 cm
Steinbach ......... 10 cm
St Labre ............ 16 cm /SE of Steinbach/
Winkler ............. 19 cm
Morden ............. 15 cm
Altona ............... 15 cm
Pinawa.............. 12 cm
Falcon Lake ...... 6 cm