Blustery and colder today with snow moving in..

The pleasant stretch of above normal temperatures and quiet weather will be coming to end today thanks to a cold front that pushed through southern Manitoba overnight. Gusty north winds to 50 or 60 km/h behind the front will usher in much colder air from the northern Prairies, with temperatures falling through the day towards the -10C mark by evening. The gusty northerly winds will be make it feel even colder with wind chills falling to the -20 range. In addition, periods of snow will be spreading across Winnipeg and the RRV this morning,  with about 5 cm possible by the drive home.  This will result in deteriorating road conditions today, with occasional reduced visibilities in snow and blowing snow. Road conditions are already slippery this morning from some early morning freezing drizzle that left a coating of ice on untreated surfaces.. and  a layer of wind blown snow will continue to make for slippery conditions through the day into the evening. Caution on the roads today.. winter driving skills will be required once again.

Follow snow on radar today. Keep in mind that radar images from the Weatheroffice website are still on RAIN  rate and will underplay snow intensities. Consult Brads's radar viewer from A Weather Moment for radar showing more accurate SNOW rate intensities.  For latest road and highway conditions, see Manitoba highways website.

Dry and mild start to the week.. turning colder with some snow likely by Thursday

Generally pleasant and dry weather is expected over southern Manitoba over the next few days as a series of low pressure systems passes to the north of the region.  This will bring a flow of above normal temperatures over the south with daytime highs generally above freezing today through Wednesday. Warmest temperatures will be over far southeast MB which has minimal snow cover, with highs of +5 to +8C possible over the next few days. By Wednesday, scattered showers are possible ahead of  a low pressure system that will be developing over southern SK. This system will drag a cold front through southern Manitoba by Thursday with some snow possible as colder air works in behind it. This doesn't look like a major system at this point, with snowfall amounts of 2-5 cm being forecast by the long range models along with gusty north winds. Still, it will likely be enough to bring wintery driving conditions over southern MB once again, after a period of relatively benign weather. Until then, enjoy the nice weather for the next few days!   

Cold start to the week with a milder finish. No more snow for awhile..

It will be a cold start to the week after a weekend storm system brought widespread snow across southern Manitoba. Temperatures today will remain around the -5C mark with brisk NW winds making it feel more like -15 with the windchill.  For tonight, clearing skies and diminishing winds over a fresh snowpack will allow temperatures to drop to the coldest of the season so far, with -20C temperatures likely by Tuesday morning. Below normal temperatures will persist through midweek before a moderating trend towards late week with temperatures rising towards the melting point. In fact, long range models are indicating warmer than normal weather over the weekend into early next week with above freezing temperatures expected. In addition, no new snow is expected the rest of this week which will help in snow clearing operations from the weekend storm. All in all, a nice week ahead after a winter-like start! 

Winter storm delivers winter wallop to southern Manitoba

South Winnipeg webcam around
10 pm Nov 10th when heavy snow
was giving 5 cm/hr snowfall rates

Winter arrived with a vengeance Saturday as a well advertised winter storm brought widespread snow across most of southern Manitoba Saturday into Saturday night.  The "Colorado low" storm system which tracked across northern Minnesota last night, brought two waves of snow.. one that began in the early morning hours Saturday and pushed into the Interlake areas, and another heavier burst of snow Saturday night that brought very heavy snowfall rates of up to 5 cm/hr at times across the Red River valley including Winnipeg. When the snowfall finally tapered off Sunday morning, it left some impressive snowfall totals over most of southern Manitoba, transforming what was a bare snowfree landscape Friday into a winter wonderland within 36 hours.

Some storm snowfall totals reported as of Sunday morning Nov 11th..

Mafeking ................. 65 cm   (Highway 10 between Swan River and The Pas)
Ashern ...................... 40-60 cm
Hodgson ................... 40 cm
Swan River ............... 40 cm
St Alphonse .............. 40 cm 
Portage La Prairie ..... 37 cm
Dauphin .................... 33 cm
Baldur ....................... 33 cm
Holland ..................... 32 cm
Belmont .................... 32 cm 
Gilbert Plains ............. 25-35 cm 
Roblin ....................... 24 cm
Winnipeg ................. 22 cm  (greatest 24 hr snowfall since Dec 2006)
St Claude .................  22 cm
Marquette ................. 21 cm
Brandon .................... 20 cm
Neepawa ..................  20 cm
Woodlands ...............  20 cm
Morden ....................  14 cm
Carman ....................  12 cm
Pinawa ...................... 11 cm 
Steinbach  ................. 10 cm
Emerson .................... 10 cm

Backyard scene from Treherne MB
was typical across much of
southern MB Sunday morning

Winnipeg's snowfall of 22 cm was the city's greatest 24 hr snowfall since Dec 30-31 2006 when 32 cm fell. Heaviest snowfall with this storm was in a wide swath from the Riding and Duck Mountains through the northern Interlake, as well as a narrower band from the western RRV through Portage la Prairie into the central interlake thanks to some slow moving heavy snowbands that set up Saturday evening.  Neighbouring eastern Saskatchewan was also hard hit with 30-45 cm reported from Regina to Yorkton. Snowfall was much less south and east of Winnipeg especially towards the Ontario border where precipitation was mixed with freezing rain Saturday.

Trucks line up in Headingley MB
waiting for the TransCanada to open

The storm was bad enough to force the closure of the TransCanada highway Saturday night between Winnipeg and Brandon due to the severe winter conditions.




 

Storm Chronology for Winnipeg (as observed at my site in Charleswood)

Light snow began around 2-3 am on Nov 10th, with 2 cm falling between 4 and 8 am. Snow continued through the morning with another 3 cm by 1 pm. Snow stopped in the afternoon with some light flurries mixed with freezing drizzle at times. By 5 pm, steadier snow started falling again with another 5 cm by 9 pm. Around 9 pm, snow intensified and became very heavy, with 5 cm falling between 9-10 pm, and another 3 cm from 10-11 pm. Snow started easing around 11 pm with another 1 cm by midnight.  Another round of steady snow developed by 1 am, with an additional 3 cm by 4 am Nov 11th.  Snow tapered off by 6-7 am Nov 11th.  Storm total by 8 am Nov 11th: 22 cm snow, trace of freezing drizzle.

Nov 10 - 11 2012 snowfall accumulations (per my obs and YWG airport obs)

2 am - 4 am:    Trace
4 am - 8 am:    2 cm 
8 am - 1 pm:    3 cm 
1 pm - 5 pm:    Trace of snow, trace of freezing drizzle
5 pm - 9 pm:     5 cm 
9 pm - 10 pm:   5 cm (S+) 
10 pm - 11 pm: 3 cm
11 pm - mid:     1 cm
mid - 4 am:       3 cm 
4 am - 7 am:     Trace  

24 hr Radar accumulation summaries to 9 am Sunday morning

24 hr precip accumulation from
Foxwarren radar to 9 am Sunday.
Precip amounts in mm and
may not accurately reflect
actual snowfall totals

24 hr precip accumulation from
Woodlands radar to 9 am Sunday.
Precip amounts in mm and
may not accurately reflect
actual snowfall totals

Winter Storm Update

Snow has spread over southern MB this morning with the heaviest snow occurring through western MB and the interlake areas. As of  9 am, about 15 cm of snow has fallen through the Roblin/Dauphin areas, with 8 cm in Brandon, 5 cm in Portage and about 2-3 cm in Winnipeg. Snowfall drops off to a dusting south and east of Winnipeg where precipitation is mixing with freezing drizzle or ice pellets. Winnipeg will be on the edge of  heavier snow to the west and north today, and more intermittent light snow to our south and east. As such, the weather in Winnipeg today will vary between periods of light snow, and heavier bursts from time to time. In general, about 5-10 cm of snow is expected in Winnipeg today, with higher amounts of 10-20 cm to our north and west, and lighter amounts of 2-5 cm to our south and east.  For tonight the storm system will be tracking into northern Minnesota and NW Ontario, bringing another wave of heavier precipitation over southern MB. This could bring another 10-15 cm of snow to Winnipeg and the RRV overnight into Sunday morning before the snowfall tapers off. So we'll be dealing with this storm for the next 24-36 hours yet.. Overall, Winnipeg could see about 15-25 cm of snow from this system, with the heaviest snowfall over western MB into the interlake areas where 30-40 cm is possible by Sunday evening.