Several waves of showers and thunderstorms rolled through the Pembina and Red River Valleys in the early morning and afternoon hours of Tuesday, and in some cases, significant rainfall occurred in a short period of time.
“The most intense morning storms occurred east of the Red, and along the international border, just as they crossed over from North Dakota, and were still rolling along at a pretty good clip,” said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. “The western portion of this line of storms still packed a rainy punch, but was below severe thunderstorm warning limits, whereas the storms on the eastern end did reach warning criteria. Meanwhile, at least one thunderstorm, which moved through the Austin area west of Portage, dropped nearly 90mm of rain at one weather station."
The following rainfall totals are courtesy PembinaValleyOnline Rainwatchers, Environment Canada and the Manitoba Ag Weather Network, and are for Tuesday, June 15th:
St. Pierre - 35mm (1.4 inches)
Morris - 23.7mm (just over 9/10ths)
Woodmore - 22.5mm (9/10ths)
Dominion City - 21.3mm
Emerson - 20.8mm
Winkler (south of city) - 19.8mm (almost 8/10ths)
Steinbach - 19.3mm
Gretna - 19mm
North of Horndean - 7/10ths
Brunkild - 15.7mm
Altona (rural) - 15mm (6/10ths)
Elm Creek - 14.9mm
Winnipeg (airport) - 13.8mm
Altona (in town) - 12mm (almost 1/2 inch)
Carman - 11.6mm
Manitou - 7.7mm
Cartwright - 7.4mm (almost 3/10ths)
Morden - 6mm
Pilot Mound - 1.6mm
25mm = 1 inch
"Today will be slightly below seasonal with highs between 21 and 23, and a little breezy as the strong low pressure system which has been the weather-maker so far this week on the Prairies finally starts to move eastward," said Sumner. "We can expect southwesterly gusts up to 60 km/h later today, with a mix of sun and cloud throughout the region. After that, it's back to sunshine for Thursday through Sunday as a big ridge of high pressure builds in over the Prairies, allowing a very hot airmass to work its way northward."
Friday's highs are expected to hit 26 to 28.
"For the weekend, there’s no other way to describe it, than a mini heat wave, with highs forecast to reach the mid 30s Saturday and Sunday," noted Sumner. "We’re also expecting humidity levels to be up there, so we could see our first Heat Warnings of the Summer, with it feeling like the mid 40s, potentially, at times. Temperatures are expected to start cooling off around Tuesday next week, and we'll also see the return to a more active weather pattern, with the long range forecast models showing multiple chances for showers and thunderstorms early next week."
