Saturday was a very windy day across the Pembina and Red River Valleys, and several locations recorded peak wind gusts over 70km/h with sustained winds of 60km/h for a period of several hours.
“As that very strong Colorado low travelled through Minnesota and Wisconsin toward northwestern Ontario, very strong northwesterly winds wrapped around the back side of the low,” explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. “With most of Southern Manitoba seeing little to no precipitation from this system, the winds were the most significant impact we had from the low which just skirted our area.”
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A Manitoba Ag Weather Network station near Altona recorded a gust of 83km/h. The strong sustained winds caused additional damage to the town’s landmark Van Gogh “Sunflowers” painting, leading to town to close the walking path in the area until further notice. The large painting was initially damaged during the strong winds February 28th.
According to Environment Canada and Manitoba Ag Weather Network data, in most locations, the peak gusts came between 7am and 11am Saturday morning. Below is a list of some of the most notable.
Altona – 83km/h
Gretna - 82km/h
Windygates – 78km/h
Dominion City – 77km/h
Emerson - 76km/h
Jordan/Kane – 75km/h
Morris – 73km/h
Elm Creek/Brunkild- 70km/h
Steinbach – 68km/h
Winnipeg - 62km/h
Winkler (south of city) – 60km/h
Pilot Mound - 56km/h
Carman – 55km/h
“Surface high pressure has built in behind the low, so winds will be much lighter Sunday alongside a mainly sunny sky in the morning,” said Sumner. “Cloud cover will start to roll in Sunday afternoon as the next system to impact the region begins to make its way here. Travelling through Montana and the Dakotas, we could see a few centimeters of snow from it, possibly 2 to 5cms by Monday night, close to the International border. The wind is expected to remain relatively light, so blowing snow shouldn’t be a big factor.”
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Slightly below seasonal highs are expected Sunday, around -4, with close to average temperatures Monday through Wednesday, between -1 and -3. Averages for mid March are 0 degrees for highs and -9 for overnight lows.