October 15, 1952 Blast of Winter with Damaging Winds over 110 km/h
A vicious cold front moved through the Red River Valley early in the morning on October 15, 1952, bringing sub-freezing temperatures, snow and damaging winds.
In Winnipeg, snow began to fall as early as midnight, but really began to come down with strong winds by 5:30 am. It continued until 8 am. 2.0 cm fell. Winds strengthened during the overnight, reaching their peak around 6:30 am. At that time, winds were sustained near 72 km/h and gusting up to 114 km/h. The snow, combined with strong winds, produced visibilities as low as half a mile (800 metres) at 7:30 am at the Airport. Conditions were reportedly locally worse outside the city. Temperatures fell to -4.4°C by 8:30 am and remained below freezing the remainder of the day. The afternoon high was a measly -1.7°C, a record low maximum for the day and one of the coldest days for so early in the season on record.
Sub-freezing temperatures, strong winds and snowfall resulted in treacherous driving conditions. The morning commute was chaotic in Winnipeg. The city tried sanding some routes to increase traction. It was said that some people were up to an hour late for work because of traffic tie-ups. Some power outages occurred after the wind snapped some power lines and blew fuses. The wind also knocked down tree branches. The weather had calmed down by 10 am.
Heavier snowfall amounts fell with the storm in other parts of southern Manitoba, particularly in the Interlake and Parklands where 10 to 20 cm was recorded:
Boissevain 1.3 cm
The following night was cold with a low of -10.0°C at Winnipeg Airport. Other lows included:
Boissevain -10.6°C
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| From the Winnipeg Free Press Oct 15, page 1 |
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| From the Winnipeg Free Press Oct 15, page 4 |
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| From the Winnipeg Free Press Oct 15, 1952, page 3 |
This post contains info from the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Tribune and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
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