For farmers, gardeners and firefighters attacking the wildfires in eastern Manitoba the much needed rain over the last two days was very much welcomed, even if it did mean a soggy start to May Long weekend.
“The strong low pressure system which brought the substantial precipitation to parts of Southern Manitoba is now pulling off eastward toward the Great Lakes,” explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. “Lingering cloud cover on the backside of the low will keep things cloudy Saturday until surface high pressure sliding southward from northern Canada clears that out by Sunday morning.”
For your May Long Weekend forecast courtesy Petro Canada Winkler, click here.
He added an upper level trough is building into the region, and that has allowed a cold, arctic airmass to settle in for the next few days. Highs Saturday will be 5 to 7 degrees, with slightly warmer temperatures and sunshine expected Sunday and Victoria Day Monday between 12 and 16. Averages right now are 21 degrees daytime and 7 degrees overnight.
“With the rain received, a number of municipality’s have lifted or eased burning restrictions, but it’s important to note eastern Manitoba did not receive as much rainfall as the Red River Valley and Southwestern Manitoba,” noted Sumner. “Many of those locations still have extensive restrictions in effect, whether local or provincial, so be sure to doublecheck before lighting a fire this weekend.
The following totals are for May 15th , 16th and through 6am Saturday, May 17th. Data is courtesy PembinaValleyOnline Rainwatchers, the Manitoba Ag Weather Network, CoCoRaHS volunteers and Environment Canada:
Winkler (in city) - 109mm
Morden – 76.1mm
Darlingford area – 71.2mm
Reinland - 67.8mm
Elm Creek – 65.7mm
Somerset area – 65.5mm
Miami - 65mm
Altona - 64mm
Winkler (south of city) – 60.8mm
Rosenfeld - 57.5mm
Deerwood – 57.4mm
Manitou – 50.9mm
Brunkild – 50.2mm
Morris – 49.1mm
Kane – 35.7mm
Jordan - 34.8mm
Plum Coulee - 34.29mm
Dominion City – 30.3mm
Carman – 29.1mm
Clearwater – 22.5mm
Steinbach – 17.9mm
Heavy rain has moved through southern Manitoba this week, where almost a month’s worth of rain (50-80mm) has fallen in some areas of the SW in 36 hours. The SE stayed much drier with only 5-10 mm. The rain should taper off tonight with cooler weather for the long weekend #mbstorm pic.twitter.com/lv8gXkacCR
— ECCC Weather Manitoba (@ECCCWeatherMB) May 16, 2025
Meanwhile, as a cold front swept through Southern Manitoba Friday, strong northerly wind gusts were recorded in a number of locations. These readings are from the Manitoba Ag Weather Network:
Minnedosa – 85km/h
Neepawa - 83km/h
Eden - 80km/h
Somerset, St. Claude - 77km/h
Altona, Jordan, Kane – 72/km
Windygates - 71km/h
Manitou, Steinbach - 70km/h
Brunkild, Dominion City – 68km/h
Elm Creek - 67km/h
Clearwater – 66km/h