Much of the Pembina and southern Red River Valley awoke Friday morning to yet another quick shot of sticky, wet snow.
"Multiple disturbances this week have brought multiple rounds of flakes, but for the most part, those flurries have quickly melted as temperatures have been above freezing for most of the week," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Friday morning's round of light snow is courtesy of a trough of low pressure working across the Dakotas this morning. We're not expecting a lot of accumulation, but will more than likely see a couple of centimeters. With that said, it will quickly melt after sunrise with some sunshine expected today, and daytime highs again above zero."
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Sumner noted, even with temperatures pushing above freezing, we continue to be below average for the start of April. Daytime highs for the start of the month are typically around 8 degrees, and highs Friday through Monday are expected to range between +3 and +5.
"This cooler than average trend to start the month has been due to a generally northwesterly flow aloft in the atmosphere, pushing cooler air southward over our area," he said. "With an upper level low pressure system spinning away over Hudson Bay right now, the counterclockwise flow around that low, means continued northwesterly flow through the weekend and into the first couple days back from Spring Break."
In fact, Sumner added, temperatures will get quite cool for this time of year Sunday night through early Tuesday morning.
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"An area of Arctic high pressure will traverse the Prairies, and arrive in Manitoba at the end the weekend and to start next week," he said. "Yes, that means sunshine for Monday, but it also means temperatures well below average for this time of year. Overnight lows Sunday night and Monday night may be up to ten degrees cooler than usual, and daytime highs Monday may struggle to get much above zero. We can also expect some breezy northerly winds Sunday as that area of high pressure moves into the region."
Looking at the long range forecast models, Sumner noted we will see a warm up to seasonal conditions by mid next week, with early signs ridging in the atmosphere could arrive over the eastern Prairies for the back half of the week, leading to daytime highs significantly above average.