Sunday 10 March 2013

A Few Chances of Snowfall This Week, Otherwise Not Much to Talk About

     It was on this day last year that summer in March began with record-breakingly warm temperatures. Sadly for some, the same can't be said this year! Winter is still hanging on strongly with no signs of an early spring starting in the near future.

     It will be another chilly night tonight with lows in the mid minus teens expected throughout most of southern Manitoba. Tomorrow, a weak clipper system will move into the province providing the opportunity for more snowfall. Again, western and southwestern Manitoba is expected to bear the brunt of the system because it is expected to weaken as it moves east. A few flurries or light snowfall is expected to reach the Red River Valley by afternoon however, but major accumulations are not expected. 2-5 cm will fall in western Manitoba with locally higher amounts of 5-8 cm possible. 2-4 cm is expected along the Trans-Canada in southwestern Manitoba, including Brandon, while only a dusting to 2 cm is expected along the US Border. Only a dusting to 2 cm is also expected to fall in the Red River Valley, most of it falling in the afternoon and evening.


     A few lingering flurries Tuesday morning will taper off midday with sunnier conditions expected in the afternoon. The next good chance for snowfall will be Friday into Friday night. This particular Alberta Clipper has the potential to be a little more significant for eastern areas with accumulating snowfall possible in Winnipeg. It's a little too far to begin giving snowfall amounts however. Just keep in mind that the week may end a little snowy.

     Temperatures look, well, quite ''boring'' this week with seasonal to seasonably cool conditions expected. In other words, no major fluctuations. Essentially, I wouldn't expect anything vastly different from what we've already been experiencing the past week.

     A few notes about my blog.
  • The photos page has been updated and now includes an archive for any educational posts about weather I post.
  • Calgary, Alberta has now been officially added to my record books. I only have the monthly and yearly temperature records however. I have also added the city's 1981-2010 normals for temperatures (which are preliminary because Environment Canada hasn't officially released these normals yet).
  • I will begin making daily 3-day forecasts for Winnipeg in my ''Winnipeg forecast'' page starting tomorrow.

11 comments:

  1. Tough call for tonight in Winnipeg. The flurries are quite hit and miss in widely scattered pockets across southern Manitoba. In addition the clipper is slowly weakening as it moves east. It will be a case of either we get absolutely nothing, or we get 1-3 cm. Will have to wait and see at this point. I think it's very likely we'll at least see some flurry activity, but how much is uncertain.

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  2. Finally seeing some of that flurry activity in the city, but very very light. Certainly wont get much tonight.

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  3. Breezy north/northwest winds tomorrow in the Red River Valley will cause some drifting snow in open areas outside the city, especially where there's a bit of accumulation of snowfall tonight. It wont be a major event but sometime to keep in mind if you have any travel plans. Blowing snow was a problem in southern Saskatchewan today however winds shouldn't be AS strong here tomorrow. Sustained around 30 with gusts of 40 or 50 km/h at times expected. Worst area is expected to be in the southern RRV with 40 gusting at times close to 60 km/h. They were 50 km/h gusting to 60 km/h at times in parts of Saskatchewan today.

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  4. Only a dusting fell last night and it doesn't look like we'll much more; likely nothing.
    Another small little chance of flurries tomorrow afternoon and evening, again I'm not expecting much, just another one of those weak clipper systems. It's looking quite cold for this time of year this weekend and next week. Spring is definitely not on mother nature's to do list right now. Long range models keep showing near to below normal temperatures until the at least the last week of March.

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  5. Yuck I am not liking the forecast for this coming weekend and for at least part of next week. Models keep trending colder and colder. Lows in the minus twenties and highs in the minus teens are looking probable this weekend as the bubble of frigid arctic air over the arctic slides southwards. Lucky you if you like the cold ;)

    If anything, this just shows you how unnormal that 'heat' in March last year was. Highs this weekend will be at least 30 degrees colder than they were last year when we were reaching +20°C!

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  6. In light of the cold weather in the next week, I have made a poll to get all of your opinions on when the snow pack will dissapear (reach 0 cm) in Winnipeg. I will be using my personal station here in south St Vital to make the final decision. Please note that snowpiles from snowplows and shoveling do not count as snowpack.

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  7. In the mean time I'll have a post about Thursday night's and Friday morning's snow tomorrow late afternoon or evening. It will be brief as I've got an exam the next day.
    All I can say right now is that the bulk of the snowfall is expected to be south and west of Winnipeg with Winnipeg only being scraped by the system. 1-3 cm is expected in the city with 5-10 cm to our west and south. That's the consensus right now. It will be a fairly quick-moving system so it wont be lingering for a while.
    Unfortunately breezy northerly winds behind the system will create some drifting snow on highways Friday which will make travel difficult.
    Unfortunately, another system is in cards for Sunday into Monday with a Montana or Wyoming-type Low. Consensus in not there as to what will happen for Manitoba, therefore I wont go into too many details right now.

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  8. 4 record lows broken in southern Manitoba this morning. This is just the beginning of the cold spell so I wouldn't be surprised to see more records in the next week. Here are the records:

    Pilot Mound -27.6°C (old -26.1°C 1956)
    Fisher Branch -25.1°C (old -25.0°C 1978)
    Gretna -23.5°C (old -21.1°C 1960)
    Melita -22.7°C (old -22.5°C 1997)

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  9. I'm leaning towards a non-event for Winnipeg with tonight's and tomorrow's Alberta Clipper. The snow will slide just south of the city. As a result, I don't think we'll see more than 1 cm, but I do think we'll still see some light flurries tomorrow. This is because the system has been pushed even further south by the models. As a result, only the extreme southwest corner of the province (Melita area) is expected to get 5-10 cm. Brandon, 2-4 cm looks in the cards for you.

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  10. No post tonight I'm sorry to say. All I can say is that it still looks like mainly a miss in Winnipeg tomorrow with only periods of light snow and flurries. SW corner of province will be hardest hit with periods of snow throughout the majority of the day. I quickly looked at the models and have made a quick forecast for some select towns and cities that I expect:

    Winnipeg close to 1 cm
    Brandon 4-6 cm
    Melita 7-12 cm
    Dauphin 2-5 cm
    Portage 2-4 cm

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  11. 0.6 cm at my place so far today, still snowing ever so lightly so we wont get much more.
    Attention now goes to Sunday/Monday's storm which I'll have details tomorrow. It could be a nastier scenario for Winnipeg this time.

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