Forecast: Winter arrives with a vengeance

Issued December 5, 2016 – Covering the period from December 7 to December 14, 2016

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Published: December 8, 2016

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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is still having trouble with its precipitation maps, so for this issue I’ve included a map that shows the temperature anomaly forecast for Wednesday, Dec. 14. The core of cold air is forecast to stretch from Alberta, through southern Saskatchewan and into southern Manitoba. Temperatures are forecast to run a good 12 to 16 C below average.

It seems like each week, forecasts start out the same, and this week is no exception. Last week’s forecast did a pretty good job, and this week’s forecast is starting off with a storm system affecting some or all of southern and central Manitoba.

A strong area of low pressure will likely depart southern Manitoba by Wednesday, after giving what should be the first widespread significant snowfall of the season. The previous storm systems that have hit us over the past several weeks all lacked cold air, but this system will be able to feed into some fairly cold air building southward out of the western Arctic. Even if this system doesn’t bring the anticipated heavy snow, it will definitely be followed by a dramatic cool-down.

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3D Rendering of a tornado into withered corn field next to utility poles
 Photo: BrilliantEye/IStock/Getty Images

Types of tornado mimics

Not everything with spinning winds on the Canadian Prairies is a tornado. From dust devils to cold-core funnel clouds, there are a number of weather phenomenon that fit the description.

We’ll see the cold air move in on Wednesday and arrive in full force by Thursday or Friday. Expect overnight lows to drop to around -20 C, possibly even colder if we end up with a deep snowpack. The centre of the arctic high is forecast to stay to our west, which means western regions will likely see the coldest temperatures. We should see a little bit of a moderation in temperatures over the weekend, with highs expected to be around -14 C and overnight lows around -18 C.

The weather models then show a weak system pushing by to our south. We may see some clouds and possibly some flurries from this system, but the arctic high should keep most of this to our south. This system will be followed by another shot of arctic high pressure that will bring bitterly cold temperatures, with most regions having a good chance at seeing -30 C readings by Wednesday morning.

Usual temperature range for this period: Highs, -16 to -1 C; lows, -26 to -10 C.

About the author

Daniel Bezte

Daniel Bezte

Co-operator contributor

Daniel Bezte is a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the U of W. He operates a computerized weather station near Birds Hill Park.

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