Pleasant Start to November But a Cold And Record Breaking Second Half

E=estimated due to imprecise data

     November actually started very pleasant with well above normal temperatures in the first half with only brief cool downs. This was in sharp contrast to parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan which already had snow on the ground by Halloween. 2 days reached 10°C, on the 2nd and 13th.

     Things made a drastic turn mid-month as arctic air plunged southern Manitoba into winter. A few unexpectedly high snowfalls each dumped 5-10 cm on Winnipeg.

    However, the biggest story of the month was the cold and high pressure on November 22 and 23 as a very unusually strong arctic high pressure system invaded the Prairies. Temperatures plunged into the -20's at night, over 15 degrees below normal. Winnipeg's low of -26.8°C on Nov 23 was the coldest temperature in November since 1996 when we reached -27.9°C on Nov 26. Even some -30°C readings were seen in western Manitoba and in Saskatchewan, including Roblin (-30.7°C) and Shoal Lake (-31.0°C), Manitoba, and Regina Saskatchewan (-31°C).

     However, even more impressive, Winnipeg reached its highest pressure reading ever recorded in November since these records began in 1953. Standardized sea-level pressure topped out at 104.86 kPa on November 23 (or station-level pressure of 101.64 kPa). The previous record high station level pressure in November was 101.53 kPa on November 20, 1978.

Top 7 highest station-level pressure readings in November in Winnipeg since 1953

Rank	Date	Max station-level pressure
1	Nov 23, 2013	101.64 kPa
2	Nov 20, 1978	101.53 kPa
3	Nov 19, 1978	101.50 kPa
4	Nov 22, 2013	101.48 kPa
5	Nov 20, 2008	101.45 kPa
6	Nov 29, 1964	101.33 kPa
7	Nov 13, 1996	101.30 kPa