Although not unheard of, it is pretty rare for the month of October to begin with Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings, but that's what Tuesday morning brought across much of Southern Manitoba.
"As a low pressure system was pushing northward our of the Dakotas, the northeastern edge of the system, which was in an area of relatively high instability for this of year, had a couple lines of thunderstorms reach severe limits," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Those storms rolled through the Pembina and Red River Valleys between 5am and 7am, prompting a couple of short-lived Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for the R.M, of Stanley, including Morden and Winkler, as well as the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin."
The following totals are courtesy our PembinaValleyOnline Rainwatchers, Environment Canada and the Manitoba Ag Weather Network and for October 3rd through 5 a.m. October 4th unless otherwise noted:
Winnipeg (airport) - 36.2mm (Tues only -just less than 1.5 inches)
Brunkild - 23.2 (about 9/10)
Manitou - 18.5mm
Morden - 18.5mm (Tues only)
Elm Creek - 18.4mm
Dominion City - 18mm
Jordan/Kane - 17.5mm (7/10)
Carman - 17.2mm
Clearwater - 13.9mm
Winkler (south of city) - 11.6mm
Emerson - 11.1mm (Tues only)
Reinland - 11mm
Altona (in town) - 11mm
Gretna - 10.4mm (Tues only - 4/10th)
Steinbach - 9.9mm
Plum Coulee - 9.6mm
Morris - 7.1mm (a little less than 3/10)
25mm = 1 inch
Early morning showers are in the forecast Wednesday, but only limited further accumulations are expected.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, Sumner noted a big change in the weather pattern will take place, especially considering the well above average temperatures and humid conditions we've enjoyed since Sunday.
"An upper level trough that has been over the western Prairies will move eastward, and that will usher in a cooler airmass and northerly flow, bringing us back to seasonal, or even a couple degrees below average, as we head into Thanksgiving weekend. Along with that trough moving in, so will our next low pressure system which is coming out of northern Alberta, and full of moisture. We're expecting shower activity to re-develop tonight, and last through Thursday, with the possibility of a further 5 to 10mm by tomorrow night. We're also expecting gusty northwesterly winds up to 60 km/h throughout Thursday. "
After that low moves off, drier and sunnier conditions are expected to wrap up the week. Sumner noted surface high pressure will move into the region beginning Friday, and should keep things mainly sunny for Saturday, too. Sunday and Thanksgiving Monday are looking similar, with temperatures pushing upward to start next week to seasonal or slightly above.
Average highs for this time of year are 15, with overnight lows around +3.
Back to Tuesday's thunderstorm, check out the video Ronny Guenther put together from his vantage point in Winkler early yesterday morning.
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