Multiple rounds of thunderstorms, some severe, led to significant rainfall in parts of the Pembina and Red River Valleys, as well as Southeastern Manitoba on Friday.
“The first round rolled through during the early morning hours Friday, and was the remnants of what parts of Southwestern Manitoba had received Thursday night,” explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. “The main event, for most regions, was late Friday afternoon and evening as the instability, which had been building throughout the day as a warm and humid air-mass built in from North Dakota, provided the fuel for storm development as a front moved through the region.”
Starting around 4 p.m., Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for a wide swath along the international border, at one point extending from the Altona and Plum Coulee area in the west, to Buffalo Point in the East and into the Whiteshell to the north.
“The line of storms was almost stationary at times, so regions that did see a storm move in, saw it linger for quite a while, which led to elevated rainfall totals for those areas,” he noted. “Shower activity and non-severe thunderstorms lasted well into the late evening for regions that had been under those warnings earlier in the day.”
The following rainfall totals are for June 24th, and are courtesy PembinaValleyOnline Rainwatchers, the Manitoba Ag Weather Network and Environment Canada:
Dominion City – 74.3mm (almost 3 inches)
Rosa – 67.3mm (about 2.7 inches)
Winnipeg (airport) – 55.7mm (about 2.2 inches)
Gardenton – 42.2mm (around 1.7 inches)
Morden – 33.6mm
Altona (rural) – 28mm
Morris – 25.5mm (just over 1 inch)
Altona (in town) – 24mm
Gretna – 19.2mm
Winkler – 15mm (6/10th)
Emerson – 14.5mm
Sprague – 14.3mm
Pilot Mound – 12.9mm (just over 1/2 inch)
Cartwright/Steinbach – 12.1mm
Elm Creek – 11.1mm
Manitou – 10.3mm (about 4/10th)
Carman – 7.4mm (about 3/10th)
25mm = 1 inch
“As you can see in the totals, you can tell pretty easily which regions had those very slow moving storms set up over them,” noted Sumner. “The unsettled weather we’ve had for the last couple days will continue into Saturday, but less active weather is in the forecast for the final week of June.”
After a cold front moved through yesterday, temperatures will be much cooler, landing between 21 and 23 for Saturday. Partly sunny conditions throughout the day, will also see a chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and tonight as the low which impacted the region Friday continues t0 move eastward.
“High pressure builds in Sunday, and that means lots of sunshine, and little chance of rain, to start the week,” said Sumner. “At this point, we’re looking at sunny conditions and temperatures between 23 and 28 through Wednesday. Looking at the long-range forecast models for Canada Day weekend, the early indications are for a slightly below average start, temperatures wise, with a return to normal by the end of the weekend. As for rain chances, it’s a little early to say with much confidence what that will look like, but right now it’s looking less likely than likely we’ll see accumulating rainfall July 1st through 3rd.”
Averages for this time of year are 26 for daytime highs, and 13 for overnight lows.
