The country's first Heat Warnings of the year were issued Saturday afternoon, and they were for parts of Southern Manitoba including the Red River Valley and Southeastern Manitoba, and as far west as the Killarney region.
"Ridging over the Prairies, when the jet stream is pushed well to our north, will allow for a well above average air-mass to move into our area from the U.S. southwest for potentially several days," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Strong southerly to southwesterly flow at the surface will push that anomalously warm weather into much of the area beginning Sunday. The strong winds we experienced Saturday were the start of that process."
Find the latest weather forecast, courtesy Petro Canada Winkler, here
Environment Canada issues Heat Warnings for Southern Manitoba when Issued when 2 or more consecutive days of daytime maximum temperatures are expected to reach 32°C or warmer and nighttime minimum temperatures are expected to fall to 16°C or warmer.
The forecast is currently for daytime highs Sunday through Tuesday to be 35 degrees or warmer, with overnight lows in the 20s for Sunday and Monday night.
"The strong southerly winds are expected to last Saturday night through Sunday night, and in fact for Monday and Tuesday, too," noted Sumner. "At this point, the forecast models are suggesting the ridge will move eastward and out of our area after Wednesday, with early indications of a dramatic change in the weather to cooler and wetter conditions ahead of May Long Weekend's arrival."
Record setting conditions?
"Considering how warm it will be, it's likely we will see new records set somewhere in Southern Manitoba Sunday, Monday and Tuesday," said Sumner. "Many locations have current records for the coming days in the 30s, but with temperatures possibly pushing into the mid 30s, I expect we'll see some record breaking conditions."