Warm & Sunny For the Next Several Days

1st Street in Brandon this morning; fields still flooded

     I just got back from a few days out in Brandon. This would explain the lack of updates since Saturday morning. Looks like water levels on the Assiniboine River in Brandon have finally been dropping steadily in the last week. 1st Street, a major north-south artery in the city finally reopened just last week after being closed due to water flowing over the highway for several days. The highway looks to have been slightly eroded and damaged on the shoulders with only one lane of traffic allowed at this time. With only one road linking areas north of the river with areas south of the river (18th Street) for several days, there certainly was some traffic chaos in the city. This was exacerbated by the closure of a vast section of Victoria Avenue, a major west-east artery, due to major construction. Brandon's population is close to 50,000.


     Saturday also turned out to be a pretty active day across southern Manitoba. 3 tornadoes have been confirmed; 1 near La Salle just south of Winnipeg, and 2 others near Waterhen in the northern Interlake. On our way to Brandon, we did see a funnel cloud near Macgregor mid afternoon, west of Portage. It appeared to be at least half way to the ground, but it was hard to say because we were a fair distance away. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures.

Storm east of Brandon Saturday afternoon

     As for the forecast, there really isn't much to say! High pressure looks to settle in for the remainder of the week with nothing but sun and seasonal to above seasonal temperatures. Can't rule out a few popup showers or storms late week, but the risk is quite low for any given location. We should reach about 25-26°C tomorrow, around 27-28°C Wednesday and around 28-29°C or so on Thursday. A 30°C day might be possible on Friday.

     Lastly, I thought I'd add a couple pictures of beautiful downtown Brandon I took this morning. A lovely city!

Unsettled Saturday; Then Calming Down

     Lots of debris cloud today across southern Manitoba ahead of a troughline in south-central Manitoba this morning. The trough is expected to push through the RRV this afternoon before continuing east to the Ontario border. A thunderstorm or shower cannot be ruled out with this, but widespread activity doesn't look very probable. Looking more isolated in nature.

     Skies will clear this afternoon behind the troughline, allowing temperatures to warm up a bit. We should reach 25-26°C in the late afternoon or early evening.

     Tomorrow looks unsettled as a low pressure system and cold front moves through southern Manitoba. After a fairly sunny start in Winnipeg, clouds will increase midday and a few showers are likely in the afternoon and evening. With a bit of instability available, a few rumbles of thunder cannot be ruled out. However, severe activity is not expected at this time.

     High pressure moves in on Sunday, clearing things out. It will be much cooler with highs of only around 21-22°C.

     Temperatures are expected to gradually warm up during the work week. Highs in the high 20's may be possible by mid-week. It will also be dry with no major threats of rain expected through the work week.

     Average mean temperature at the airport so far this July is 18.5°C. With only normal to slightly below normal conditions into next week, it is very likely that July will finish colder than normal. 1981-2010 normal is 19.6°C. The 1984-2013 average is 19.5°C and as a result, July will likely be the 10th consecutive month below the previous 30-year normal. This is truly remarkable because this would be the longest below normal streak since the infamously cold 1880's.