Lack of snow cover should result in warmer temps soon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2017 (2576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lack of snowfall since January has not only helped to reduce the chance of flooding on the Red River, but should soon lead to warmer temperatures.

In fact, outside of December — when Winnipeg received over half of the city’s snow fall — the winter of 2016-2017 has been quite tame.

Rob Paola, a severe weather meteorologist for Environment Canada, said Winnipeg has only received 2.4 cm of snow in March, with no precipitation forecast for the near future.

Highs this week are predicted to be in the low teens, thanks in part to little or no snow cover.

“Now that lost snow cover helps warm the ground…” Paola said. “That’s why you see this forecast for the next week being double-digit temperatures.”

Paola’s Rob’s Obs website cited that 2017 is tracking to have the seventh least snowy March in Winnipeg since 1872.

Most of the winter months were comparable in terms of snow fall except for December, when two major snow storms pushed the total to 68.8 cm of the current 125.4 cm total so far this winter.

The good news, said Paola, is that the dry March has lessened the threat of spring flooding.

“It was ramping up to be a bad flood event, but because we’ve had such a lack of snow in the latter half of the winter it’s somewhat eased the flood threat on the Red River.”