Warm weather smashes records across Manitoba

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/01/2017 (2647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hey Manitobans, there’s no need to go south — California is coming to us.

A warm Pacific air mass on Thursday has brought record-breaking high temperatures to parts of Manitoba after numerous records were broken on Wednesday.

“If we look at the wind pattern, it stretches all the way back to the Pacific (ocean). So the source of the air is really warm, compared to the Arctic in particular. We’re seeing air that was once over just north of California,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Natalie Hasell.

The warm air will remain in place for a couple more days, and more record highs are likely to be set through the end of the week.

Hasell said it’s all about which way the wind is blowing.

The source of the unseasonably warm temperatures in Manitoba — record-breaking in some northern areas of the province — is mainly winds from the southwest, a completely different wind regime than the cold arctic air from the north or northwest that was bringing frigid weather to Manitoba last week.

A low-pressure system to the northwest and a high to the southeast is producing winds from the southwest that are wafting warmer air over Manitoba.

“The (air) flow that we’re seeing here is actually from the Pacific originally so it’s starting off as much warmer air to begin with,” Hasell said.

‘The bonspiel thaw’

“We don’t have the exact frequency of how often these types of temperatures occur, they do occur and it’s not that unusual. There’s always the bonspiel thaw that we talk about and Festival du Voyageur is often really, really cold or melting. When we get to the end of January or into February, it does not come as a surprise when it’s either one of those things. It’s not that unusual.”

Hasell said Environment Canada’s forecast is for more of the same during the next few days but back to normal next week.

“We have above-zero temperatures, today (Thursday), Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But Saturday night or Sunday, it looks like we have another low pressure system that will make its way here and in the wake of that low-pressure system, we’ll see the winds shift again and our temperatures fall as a result. We’re not talking about absolutely frigid but probably normal or just below normal by the time we get to this time next week.”

Hasell cautioned motorists to be aware that road conditions can change quickly in this weather when daytime temperatures are warmer at zero or above zero and then cool off to below zero in the evening and night.

“We’ve been in a freeze-thaw cycle in a number of places so road conditions can change very quickly,” Hasell said. “It’s really important for people to remember that conditions can change very quickly and to drive to those conditions.”

Four records were already set in Manitoba before 10 a.m. including Gillam at -1 C (record -1.8 in 1993), Island Lake 0 C (record -3.1 C in 1997, Lynn Lake 0 C record -1.7 C in 1993 and Thompson 0 C (record -1.1 C in 1968)

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca