Heavy rains soak southern /eastern MB

A strong storm system brought heavy rainfall across southern MB June 26-27th. The storm began as showers and thunderstorms Friday the 26th with heaviest amounts across the southern RRV and southeast MB. The system then wound up as an intense low pressure system over northwest Ontario on the 27th, bringing a soaking wind-driven rain over eastern MB, with the heaviest rainfall over the Interlake and Whiteshell areas. Here is a summary of rainfall amounts over the past 2 days.

Official observations (EC)

Location storm total

Brandon - 11.0 mm
Carberry - 13.2 mm
Oakpoint - 24.6 mm
Pilot Mound - 27.8 mm
Winnipeg - airport - 31.2 mm
Portage la Prairie - 33.8 mm
Delta marsh - 35.2 mm
Deerwood - 36.4 mm
Sprague - 40.6 mm
Morden - 47.0 mm
Fisher Branch - 48.2 mm
Winnipeg - the forks- 50.6 mm
Gimli - 67.7 mm
Gretna - 72.2 mm
Carman - 75.2 mm
Great Falls - 92.0 mm
Pinawa - 94.6 mm

Unofficial observations

Location storm total

Altona - 85.0 mm
Arborg - 75.0 mm
Dugald - 78.4 mm
Elm Creek - 62.0 mm
Landmark - 99.8 mm
Letellier - 76.4 mm
Marchand - 92.7 mm
Morris - 85.2 mm
Portage la Prairie - 47.2 mm
Selkirk - 84.4 mm
St. Pierre - 101.8 mm
Starbuck - 36.4 mm
Steinbach - 82.0 mm
Teulon - 67.8 mm
Treherne - 55.8 mm
Winnipeg north - 59.0 mm
Winnipeg west - 35.0 mm
Winnipeg south - 55.0 mm
Winnipeg southwest - 38.8 mm
Woodlands - 48.8 mm

Thunderstorms and heavy rain possible Friday night

A trough of low pressure over Saskatchewan will be advancing towards southern Manitoba Friday into Friday night. Southerly winds ahead of the trough will bring a warm and increasingly humid airmass over southern MB during the day, with thunderstorms developing by late afternoon or evening. The storms may generate heavy rainfall over the Red River valley Friday night into Saturday morning with rainfall amounts of 20-30 mm likely, with 50 mm or more possible in some areas. Some storms may be severe with large hail and damaging winds. Cooler and unsettled weather will follow on Saturday before a drying trend Saturday night into Sunday.

Sunny warm morning for Manitoba marathon

Sunny and warm weather conditions prevailed today for this year’s Manitoba Marathon, coinciding with the first official day of summer  The race started at 7 am with temperatures at a comfortable 19c. However, the strong sun quickly warmed up temperatures to 24c by 9 am and 27c by 10:30 am with southerly breeze of 20 to 25 km/h. Humidity levels were moderate, with dewpoints around 15c.  The conditions were a marked change from the weeks of below normal temperatures leading up to the marathon.

Locally severe thunderstorms possible this afternoon

Hot and humid weather over southern MB today along with an approaching trough of low pressure will set the stage for the development of some strong thunderstorms this afternoon.. some of which may reach severe limits. A severe thunderstorm is defined as a thunderstorm producing one or more of the following..

- hail of 2 cm or more (nickel size or greater),
- wind gusts of 90 km/h or more
- rainfall of 50 mm in one hour or less, or 75 mm within 3 hours
- tornadoes

Today's thunderstorms will likely be slow moving storms given a weak flow aloft, so heavy rainfall will be the main threat, although some storms could produce nickle to quarter size hail given the instability levels. Storms are expected to develop over western MB this afternoon ahead of the low pressure trough, and move into the Red River valley by evening before dissipating tonight. Stay tuned for updates and possible watches and warnings on today's weather..

Website update #2

Well, things continue to go from bad to worse with my website. While attempting to fix the problem with my files uploading to Shaw, I inadvertently deleted my drop down menu sub directory. So I have no drop down menu right now in case you're wondering what happened to it. Note that if you click on the CTV temperature map, you'll get a link to Rob's Obs maps page which has some of the maps and images from the drop down menu. But I'm still having FTP problems with Shaw. So my website will be "Rob's Obs lite" for the next little while, as I don't have time to troubleshoot or redesign the website right now. Note that you can get updated weather for Charleswood from the PJ School weather station, but I don't know how much longer that site will be up once school is out. Note also that wind data from that site is not functioning.