Wednesday 8 January 2014

Buh Bye Deep Freeze!

     After almost 2 months of what has felt like never-ending frigid weather, a pattern change is finally in the works.

     A strong southerly wind will develop tonight in the Red River Valley, and that along with some light snow will create blowing snow on highways. Something to keep in mind if travelling tonight or tomorrow morning. Winds should gradually diminish tomorrow.

     The big story will be warmer temperatures as we finally reach above normal. Temperatures between -8°C and -10°C tomorrow, with highs reaching the mid to high minus single digits Friday. The warmer conditions are expected to continue this weekend.

     However, a stronger clipper system is expected to move into Manitoba Sunday. A major snowstorm is not expected for southern Manitoba with the bulk of the snow remaining to our north into central and northern Manitoba. However, some snow and perhaps even some ice pellets or freezing rain is still possible, particularly early in the day. Significant accumulations not expected at this time with generally less than 5 cm. A fresh shot of cold air will be ushered behind the system, but it is not expected to be nearly as cold as what we've seen of late. Generally warmer temperatures than what we've seen of late are expected next week as Old Man Winter loosens his grip.

15 comments:

  1. JJ, does that storm system for next Wednesday look like anything significant in terms of snowfall for us here in Winnipeg/RRV?

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    1. There's another clipper system on Wednesday expected to move into Manitoba. At this point, I'm seeing different solutions from different models so it's still uncertain at this point what we'll get here. GEM keeps bulk to our west, GFS to our east and ECMWF also keeps bulk to our east. Will let you know when things are more certain. Either way, we'll probably get at least some snow here.

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  2. Big warmup tomorrow compared to what we've seen for sure! Rising temperatures tonight, and we may potentially creep above zero by morning or afternoon. It would be the first above zero since November 25, a streak of 47 days including today. We'll see.

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    1. Colder air will move in by tomorrow evening however. This will be ushered in with northwest winds of 40 km/h tomorrow night, diminishing by Monday morning. Colder Monday but only closer to seasonal.

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  3. Kinda starting to look like the temps will be up and down like a roller coaster this week. Not sure about that Sunny forecast from E.C. though for Wednesday. That's a little off the mark considering a clipper system will be moving into Southern Manitoba.

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  4. I'm quite certain we'll reach above zero today; I'm calling for something around 2 or 3°C. Likely will be reached late this morning or early afternoon then temperatures will begin falling.

    Snow looking likely Wednesday at this point. Anywhere between 2 and 10 cm possible depending on track. As day gets closer that range will lessen.

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    1. Lots of highs this morning of 4°C in the western RRV.

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  5. Unfortunately, only briefly peaked above zero today at the airport with a high of 0.2°C... but still the first above zero since November 25. High of 1.8°C recorded in south Winnipeg. Some highs today:

    Morden 4.5°C
    Portage 3.6°C
    Sprague 2.4°C
    Brandon 1.2°C

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  6. Wednesday's clipper system is looking potent at this point... especially in respect to winds. 5 cm of snow not out of the question but wind is the main concern with models showing very strong winds on the backside of the system... potentially 50 gusting 70 to 80 km/h.

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  7. JJ, I've been hearing that the deep freeze may return again at month's end and going into February. What are your thoughts on this?

    Thanks, Anon

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    1. Occasional cool downs are unavoidable, but I don't see anything prolonged and as severe as what we've seen in December for at least the next couple weeks.

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  8. Wednesday looking interesting. Day to start off with snow and blowing snow with potentially 5 cm. We'll get more snow if the system tracks further south or less if it is further north than expected. By afternoon temperatures will rise to zero or above zero, reducing most of the blowing snow. Some rain, freezing rain or ice pellets may fall if any precipitation occurs... or there may be a brief period of ice pellets just as the morning snow is ending.

    Northwest winds of 50 km/h gusting to 70 or 80 km/h develop in the evening, giving a very blustery night. Blizzard conditions should be reduced by the warmer temperatures... but any new snow that falls in the night would make things quite difficult on highways.

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  9. A bit of redesigning of my blog today... New blog background is a photo of mine from July 13 last summer near the Saskatchewan border. :)
    Also plan to change the weather icons in the Winnipeg forecast at some point. Not sure when I will get that finished yet.

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  10. A brief summary of the latest details about tomorrow can be read in the 'current weather news' section.

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  11. Quite the rise in temperatures expected tomorrow. After a low in the mid -20's tonight, temperatures are expected to rise to or above zero by afternoon! However, it wont feel very mild thanks to a stiff wind out of the south to start, then switching to the west-northwest mid/late afternoon. Gusts to 70 km/h possible... strongest winds expected to be in western/southwestern Manitoba and into Saskatchewan.

    Snow is expected tomorrow morning especially, with 5 cm or more possible. The winds will create blowing snow and awful conditions on the highways. A brief period of ice pellets or freezing rain is possible midday, but at this point it doesn't look to amount to much.

    Snow is expected to taper a bit in the afternoon. Periods of snow again tomorrow night with blowing snow. Thursday looks miserable with a stiff north-northwest wind and much colder temperatures in the minus teens.

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