A nearly 24-hour period of light to moderate rainfall Wednesday afternoon to Thursday evening brought the first significant, accumulating precipitation to the region in two to three weeks, depending on what point you are referencing.
"A low pressure system centred over North Dakota for much of Thursday was responsible for the soaking rainfall in the Red River Valley and Southeastern Manitoba," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "The low was moving quite slowly, being partially blocked by high pressure over northwestern and central Ontario. You add to that the fact the system was tapping into a lot of moisture pulled from the south, and you set the stage for a rainy day."
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The following totals are for the afternoon of Wednesday, August 14th through Thursday, August 15th, and are courtesy PembinaValleyOnline Rainwatchers, Environment Canada and the Manitoba Ag Weather Network:
Winkler (in city, west side) - 90mm (around 3.6 inches)
Morden (two miles south of city) - 61mm
Plum Coulee - 59.69mm (almost 2.4 inches)
Woodmore - 55mm
Kane - 54.8mm
Morden - 52.5mm
Altona (westside)/Gretna - 47mm (almost 1.9 inches)
Winkler (south of city) - 46.9mm
Jordan - 46.1mm
Emerson - 44.9mm
Reinland - 44.3mm
Rosenfeld - 43.18mm
Pilot Mound - 42.5mm
Morden (AAFC Station) - 42.5mm
Altona (rural) - 42.3mm
Dominion City - 41.1mm
Carman - 40.8mm
Manitou - 40.1mm (around 1.6 inches)
Clearwater/Steinbach - 37.3mm
Morris - 37.1mm
Elm Creek - 31.5mm
25mm = 1 inch
"We'll see lingering cloud cover, and a small chance of showers, Friday as the upper level low which impacted the region Thursday slowly tracks eastward into Minnesota and beyond," said Sumner. "It will be a humid and smoky day, as forest fire smoke from northern Canada rides the northerly upper level flow in the atmosphere southward. An Air Quality Statement is in effect for most of Southern Manitoba. It's likely we will see significant smoke near ground level Friday, meaning the possibility of somewhat reduced visibility and perhaps daytime highs not quite making it to the 26 degrees currently forecast."
The cloudy conditions are expected to last into Saturday, with possibly a few peeks of sunshine throughout the day. Highs will be in the 24 to 26 degree range.
"Beyond that, we're seeing ridging build in the atmosphere, and that means a return to high pressure, and much sunnier conditions for Sunday," he added. "I expect we'll see some sunshine Monday, before the next low pressure system moves through sometime Tuesday, bringing the next possibility of accumulating rainfall. Generally speaking, temperatures next week are looking to be seasonal, to slightly above, most days."
Average daytime highs for this point in August are 25 degrees and 11 degrees overnight.