Monday, January 28, 2008

WInter Storm Update - Less snow expected

Well, snow amounts with this next storm system are looking rather unimpressive for southern MB as the cold air sweeps in tonight. Models are indicating the bulk of the snow with this storm will track from southwestern SK into central MB (as shown by latest radar) leaving just a few hours of "wrap around" snow for southern MB Monday night. It's possible we may see a couple of cm of snowfall, but I don't expect much more. In fact, some places may just see a dusting of snow as the cold front moves through. The upshot of all this is that blizzard conditions will not be as widespread or as long lasting as they would have been had we received more snow (as earlier expected). As a result, I expect light snow and blowing snow to move into the Red River valley this evening, with near blizzard conditions at times tonight as winds pick up, before things improve by the commute Tuesday morning. Depending on how much new snow falls, there could be blizzard conditions in rural areas for several hours Tuesday morning before things improve by the afternoon or evening. Some road closures are possible outside the city, and rural schools may have bus or class cancellations Tuesday. Conditions in Winnipeg on Tuesday won't be as bad with drifting snow and blowing snow over open areas, but generally good visibilities as the snow will have tapered off by morning. The big story will be the biting cold northwest winds and temperatures in the minus 20s creating windchills of -40 to -45 Tuesday, a big change from the -3 temperatures on Monday.

So in summary, strong winds and much colder temperatures on Tuesday with blowing snow over open areas. Local blizzard conditions Monday night into Tuesday morning, mainly over rural areas. Possible road closures outside the perimeter, with bus or class cancellations possible in rural schools. Minor snowfall storm totals of 2-5 cm. Improving conditions throughout Tuesday. Overall though, things could have been a lot worse with this system (as the GLB model was suggesting a couple of days ago)

10 comments:

  1. Blizzard warning has been issued for much of southern MB including Winnipeg. A sharp cold front will cross southern MB later today into tonight bringing strong northwest winds and about 2-4 cm of snow with it. The strong winds and fresh snowfall will give blizzard conditions beginning later today along the SK border spreading east into the Winnipeg area by mid to late evening. We could see 4-6 hours of blizzard conditions before things improve Tuesday morning. The good news is that the worst of it should occur overnight in Winnipeg so things should be improving in time for the commute Tuesday morning, at least here in the city. Outside the city, it will be a different story as the strong winds and fresh snowfall will make for poor travelling conditions through much of Tuesday.

    One thing for sure however is that we will be much colder Tuesday with temperatures remaining in the -25 range all day, along with bitterly cold winds giving dangerous windchills in the -40 to -45 range ...a major change from today's pleasant weather.

    To emphasize, this will not be a paralyzing blizzard with lots of deep snow. Rather it will be a storm bringing high winds, sharply colder temperatures and a bit of new snow that will give blizzard conditions for a few hours tonight into Tuesday morning, especially in open areas outside the city.

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  2. Yes, it's more of a ground blizzard and bitterly cold wind chill system. I didn't even wear a coat today...but tomorrow I'll look like the Michelin man.

    The really cold weather will be out by Friday afternoon, as a weak system pumps up warmer air. It will get chilly for the weekend, but only back down to seasonable levels after an above average Friday. Maybe a dusting of snow Friday and again Monday? Models keep showing a decent snow event around the 6th...will have to see if that pans out.

    Bruce

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  3. Yeah.. if the Canadian GLB verified with their predicted amount of snow from last Friday (10-20 cm), we would have had a real blizzard on our hands! Looks like the GFS was the better overall solution with their lower snowfall amounts, and not as deep a low. (GLB had a 973 mb for 00z this evening, instead it's 984 mb)

    As of 8:30 pm, a band of snow is approaching Winnipeg from the west and south. Our visibilities down to 1.5 miles right now in blowing snow, but when that snow band moves in by 10 or 11 pm, I suspect a few hours of blizzard conditions here in Winnipeg and the Red River valley.. similar to what Brandon is reporting right now (1/4 mile)

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  4. Take a look at Estevan, SK!
    http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/trends_table/pages/yen_metric_e.html

    Today they reported 0km visibility for 2 straight hours, since then it has been 0.2km! I sure hope that will move right into my doorstep. Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think Estevan even received any significant snowfall!

    The winds across south-western Manitoba are in the 60 G 80 range, which could quite easily occur in the RRV, due to funneling. Everyone is under a blizzard warning, so it should be interesting.

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  5. Scott..

    Estevan got a burst of about 5 cm of snow this afternoon.. plus the funnelling of winds down the Wascana River valley produced those zero visibilities. This is what Emerson will probably be like tonight into Tuesday morning!

    BTW, TransCanada now closed from Headingley all the way to SK border. Travel not advised on all other roads over southwest MB. Brandon gusting to 82 km/h past hour with 1/4 mile vsby.

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  6. This event should be interesting no the less. HWY 75 now closed from just south of WPG to the border.

    0.2km visibility in Emerson, no wonder the HWY is closed. With the peak winds occuring in the morning for the east of Manitoba blizzard conditions might last until noon.

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  7. Hi, I have a personal weather station in North-East Transcona near the perimeter highway. Do you have a need for weather data in this area? If so, let me know at my email; cstammers@shaw.ca

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  8. All this, and the weather service down here (Lancaster, MN) only put out a winter weather advisory. We had several hours where you could see nothing in rural areas. I warned people all day that it would be much worse than what a winter weather advisory suggested.

    The snow has stopped, but ground blizzards continue.

    Bruce

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  9. Many school divisions in south-eastern Manitoba have canceled classes, including the division that covers Steinbach.

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  10. It's fortunate that the storm came through at night, and there wasn't much snow with it. This greatly minimized the impact this thing could have had on southern MB. Even so, most places had a few hours of blizzard conditions last night with whiteouts reported in many open areas.. hence the prudent closure of several highways.

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