Winter Storm Orko Just Scraped Manitoba; Snow Possible Wednesday

     The Colorado Low to our south and east (named winter storm Orko in the US) during the weekend produced some hefty snowfall amounts and blizzard conditions to some areas. 30-45 cm of snow fell in northeastern South Dakota, southeastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. This was accompanied by 50 km/h winds creating whiteout conditions. Some highways, including some major interstates, were shut down. This included a 500 km stretch of I-29 in South Dakota and North Dakota. Here's some snowfall amounts in some major cities, along with a map showing snowfall amounts, both courtesy of the NWS:

Moorhead, MN/Fargo, ND     As high as 25 cm
Grand Forks, ND                   10-13 cm
St. Cloud, MN                        17 cm
Duluth, MN                             17-20 cm
Minneapolis, MN                      6 cm

Courtesy of the NWS. (15 inches is approximately 38 cm)

     Based on this map, the Sprague region in the extreme southeast corner of Manitoba got about 5 cm or so yesterday and last night, which is pretty much what was expected. The snow did in fact not quite reach Winnipeg at all, with no snowfall reported yesterday. There were a few flurries overnight and early this morning, but they were not associated with Orko.

    Now with the forecast for southern Manitoba. Today, as you may have noticed already, is colder. This can be thanked to Orko which pulled down some colder air southwards. Highs will struggle to get much passed -10°C at Winnipeg airport this afternoon. However, sunshine returns today as drier air filters in from the north with this colder air clearing the moisture/cloud cover we had over the weekend. This cool down to more seasonal temperatures will be brief however. Mild Pacific air returns tomorrow with above normal temperatures. Highs in the high minus single digits are expected throughout southern Manitoba, but some areas may poke above the freezing mark locally, especially in the western RRV where a westerly downslope wind may help things warm up a little more there. It wont necessarily be very sunny tomorrow however.

     The mild weather continues Wednesday, but a clipper system moving from the northwest will bring in snowfall to Manitoba. However, even now, it is hard to pinpoint where the heaviest snowfall accumulations will fall because models are a little everywhere right now. GEM keeps the main snowfall along the Saskatchewan border with little to nothing in the RRV, while NAM brings in the heaviest snow in the RRV, southeastern Manitoba and the Interlake. I'm hoping things will be clearer tomorrow. I will be giving updates in the comment section of this post when they are available so please check in there from time to time. Heaviest hit areas could get as much as 10 cm with this clipper. Right now, I don't think freezing rain will be a concern with the clipper, but I'll see tomorrow.

     Behind the clipper, there will be a more pronounced cool down. We will return into the arctic air with below normal temperatures. However, at this point it doesn't look as cold as it was in January, with lows in the -20's and highs in the minus teens expected. Models hint at another clipper system Sunday or Monday, so we may get a brief warm up then with snowfall, but we will return into the cold next week. Right now, it looks like a cold second half to February with no major warmups to be seen yet.