It is officially spring! Of course that doesn’t mean it’s going to look or feel like it right away.
Before we get into what the first days of spring will bring, let’s put a bow on winter.
Winter officially runs from the winter solstice Dec. 21, 2016 to March 20, 2017. Within this period of time in Winnipeg, the warmest day was the last day of winter! March 19 the temperatures reached 6.8 C. The coldest day was Jan. 13 where it was -32.7 C.
The city had a total of 70.8 cm of snow and 19.8 mm of rain in this period. It’s more rain than normal. In terms of snow, it’s hard to say, but when you compare this seasonal total with what Winnipeg saw in December alone (68.8 cm), it doesn’t seem like a lot.
This week, while it’s starting on a really mild note, the temperature will cool off quickly. A cold front will move across southern Manitoba dropping temperatures and bringing with it snow with strong winds. This won’t last a terribly long time but the flurries could be intense and temporarily lower visibility.
Tuesday morning will be the coldest of the week with temperatures close to -20 C and daytime highs just above -10 C in Winnipeg. As we get later in the week, we’ll warm up again with the chance of some precipitation Wednesday.
A more spring-like forecast starts Thursday. Temperatures will likely peak between 4-7 C and it appears we’ll see daytime highs stay above 0 degrees, all the way through the weekend and into next week.