The vacation from winter will soon be over for Southern Manitoba. After nearly an entire month of above to well above average temperatures, what winter is usually like will be back in our region by this coming weekend. Before that, though, multiple chances of snowfall and several more days of warm weather.
"Let’s start with the very warm and sticky, snowy Monday morning," said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "A fast moving low pressure system kicked off the 2 to 4cms of snow we saw overnight, and it’s strong southerly flow pumped in very warm and moist air for this time of year, pushing up temperatures nearly ten degrees overnight by the time many of us started getting for the day. Many areas topped out around -2, or warmer, with Morden’s weather station recording a zero this morning before it started to slide."
The warm conditions, coupled with the stick snow, has led to generally snow covered highways throughout the region.
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He added, now that we’re on the back side of that low and the winds have shifted northwesterly, colder air is sliding into our region. With gusts up to 50 km/h this morning, diminishing at some point this afternoon, temperatures will sink throughout the Monday, landing between -10 and -12 before supper time. We’ll see flurries throughout the day, before we get a brief break in the flakes, and the next round arrives tomorrow.
"Multiple, relatively weak disturbances will move through this week," said Sumner. "On the heels of today’s low, is an Alberta Clipper that will zoom through the region Tuesday, bringing the potential for another couple centimeters. After that, some sunshine Wednesday, before the next system arrives Thursday, yet another clipper, which is expected to bring another 2 to 5cms, primarily in the evening and overnight to Friday morning, as well as gusty southerly southerly winds between 40 to 60 km/h."
And as for that return of bone-chilling temperatures, Sumner stressed, it will be here before we know it.
"Temperatures after Monday will be seasonal, to a few degrees above, ranging between -6 and -10," he explained. "After that final low moves through Friday, Arctic high pressure begins to build in, and that will allow a lobe of the Polar Vortex, which we can always find over the far north, to descend across Western Canada and deep into the United States. We will see a return to bitter cold the likes of what we haven’t had in weeks. Think way back to that week-long cold snap we saw just before Christmas."
Beginning this coming weekend, highs will struggle to reach the -20s, and overnight lows will regularly flirt with -30.
As for how long this will stick around, according to Sumner, the long-range forecast models are showing it will be well into February before we may trend back toward seasonal conditions. Averages for this time of year are -11 daytime and -21 overnight.