Brace yourself for a bright, but, at times, bitterly cold week ahead in Manitoba.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued an extreme cold warning for southwestern Manitoba, including Brandon and Dauphin. The weather agency said a multi-day episode of very cold wind chills is expected.
But the southwest is not alone. ECCC said an extreme cold warning could be expanded on Monday afternoon to include the Red River Valley.
The culprit is a dominate surface ridge of high pressure that’s producing cold, but otherwise stable weather conditions. Most of the south will see a mix of sun and cloud on Monday afternoon.
Daytime highs in most areas are only forecast to reach -18 C or -19 C, including Winnipeg, where the normal high for this time of year is -9 C.
Cloudier skies will prevail across northern Manitoba on Monday afternoon with temperatures expected to reach the low -20s.
Ahead on Monday night, overnight lows in the north will drop off a few degrees to the upper -20s.
Be prepared for an even colder night across the south. Skies will clear enough to allow temperatures to plummet to around -30 C.
These clear and cold conditions will continue all week in Winnipeg, so expect a chill in the air on Valentine’s Day on Friday, meteorologically speaking.
Even beyond, no relief from the cold is in sight on the weekend.
