John Sauder weather blog Live
John Sauder, CBC's meteorologist in Manitoba, keeps track of weather moving across the province.
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John's Weather Journal February 9
The Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect for all of southern Manitoba. We're on day #4 with that warning in place. I don't see that changing anytime soon. We may see brief periods where the warning is dropped, then re-issued. Generally, we don't really see a change in the pattern until early next week. Thursday through Saturday are the coldest days temperature-wise, but winds are quite light during that period. In these conditions, frostbite can occur on exposed skin in less than 10 minutes.This weather is particularily dangerous for those who don't have the means to get shelter or get proper warm clothing. Those people are most vulnerable. A shout out to those volunteer groups delivering warm food and clothing to people in need. Where would we be without people who care for others, and brave the elements on behalf of our community. Thank you!
Extreme Cold Warning covers most of western Canada 
John's 7-Day Forecast Tuesday: W @ 20/30 this afternoon.Wednesday: W @ 10 in the morning. NW @ 15/20 in the afternoon.Thursday: Light wind in the morning. SW @ 10 by the evening.Friday: SW @ 10 in the morning. NW @ 10 in the afternoon. -
John's Weather Journal February 8
The Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect for most of Manitoba, most of western Canada actually. In the north, frostbite can occur in a few minutes. In the south, frostbite on exposed skin can occur in less than 10 minutes in these conditions.This weather is particularily dangerous for those who don't have the means to get shelter or get proper warm clothing. Those people are most vulnerable.This cold snap isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It'll be next week before we see a temperature above -20. Still nowhere near the seasonal normal of -8 by that time.I keep hearing the phrase "it's another Polar Vortex". Well, the Poalr Vortex is always there, it has simply drifted a little farther south over Canada when, typically at this time of year, it stays to the north. So why does that happen? The general consensus is that the wind within the Polar Jet slows and allows the jetstream to meander north and south, in our case, south. So what causes the Polar Jet to winds to slow down? Many climate scientists think that the warming of the poles slows the jetstream winds and causes the meandering. If that's true, we could atribute these cold outbreaks to global warming.Having said that, Tuesday's high will only be -22 (can't believe I said only) and then colder weather settles in again for the second half of the week and the weekend.
Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect for much of Manitoba 
John's 7-Day Forecast Monday: W @ 25/40 this afternoon.Tuesday: W @ 15in the morning. W @ 20/30 in the afternoon.Wednesday: W @ 10 in the morning. W @ 15/20 by the evening.Thursday: NW @ 10 in the morning. NW @ 10/15 in the afternoon. -
John's Weather Journal February 4
The general concensus for snow totals is 3-5cm around Winnipeg. I also read reports of 5cm in the Whiteshell, 6cm in Pinawa and 4cm in Steinbach. It's hard to accurately measure snow when it's blowing sideways.So, you can feel it. We are heading into another cold snap toward the weekend. This one is longer lasting and accompanied by a lot more wind. The temperatures alone will be colder than the last cold spell. Expect Extreme Cold Warnings to be issued before the weekend.Wind chill values will be extreme Saturday through Monday. Remember, wind chill is NOT a temperature, it's a calculated comfort (or discomfort) level that only affects your EXPOSED skin. It's very important to cover up if spending any extended period of time outside in weather like we will have on the weekend.Please keep a close eye on pets outside as well. The dog I grew up with was a Boxer and, in weather like this, we would let outside to do his business and watch him while he quickly got the job done, then ran back inside. His name was Banco but that's a whole other story.Winds will stay strong through the rest of today (Thursday) and through Friday and Spart of Saturday. Blowing and drifting snow on highways will be a factor as well.Daytime highs on the weekend will struggle to reach -26 degrees. Morning lows Sunday and Monday are in the mid minus 30s.There doesn't seem to be much relief next week with daytime highs staying in the -20s.
John's 7-Day Forecast Thursday: NW @ 30/50 this afternoon. NW @ 25/40 overnight.Friday: NW @ 20/40in the morning. NW @ 30/50 in the afternoon.Saturday: NW @ 30/50 in the morning. NW @ 20/30 by the evening.Sunday: W @ 10 in the morning. NW @ 20/25 in the afternoon. -
John's Weather Journal February 3
As of mid day Wednesday, we don't have any advisories or watches or warnings in effect in the province, but that will likely change at some point as a low approaches. Over the next 24 - 36 hours, we could see blowing snow advisories, winter storm watches or warnings, followed by extreme cold warnings for the weekend.As of noon, the radar shows snow in the Virden area and up through Dauphin and Swan River. That will make its way east through the afternoon. There is potential for 5-10cm out of this system but I think the Winnipeg area will get between 5 and 7cm by Thursday morning. The other part of the weather story is the wind. As the cold front swings through the Red River Valley early this evening, winds shift to the northwest and gust to 60 km/h. As temps fall this evening, the snow will likely blow around and reduce visibility in open areas.This is all followed by extremely cold weather as we head into the weekend. This cold snap will be longer than the last one. Get the extension cords and warmest clothing ready.
Satellite and Radar as of 12:30pm Wednesday 
John's 7-Day Forecast Wednesday: S @ 20/30 this afternoon. NW @ 40/60 overnight.Thursday: NW @ 40/60in the morning. NW @ 40/60 in the afternoon.Friday: NW @ 20/40 in the morning. NW @ 30/50 by the evening.Saturday: NW @ 30/50 in the morning. NW @ 30/40 in the afternoon. -
John's Weather Journal February 1
As we start February, we look back at the 2nd mildest January on record. Our average temperature in January was 5.9 degrees C higher than normal. We only had 11cm of snow in Winniopeg whisch is less than half of a normal January amount.It's certainly a milder start to February with temps around -6 today and warmer on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Wednesday afternoon and evening brings a change. We'll see some snow later on Wednesday but it's tough to say how much. Most models are dropping 3-5cm on us but there are some models that guide us more toward 15-20cm. I'll have a better idea on Tuesday.Behind that system, we turn very cold by the weekend and this particular cold snap with stick around for a week or so. Daytime highs on the weekend will hover right around -25 degrees.
John's 7-Day Forecast Monday: SE @ 15/20 this afternoon.Tuesday: S @ 30/50in the morning. S @ 40/60 in the afternoon.Wednesday: S @ 30/40 in the morning. NW @ 40/60 by the evening.Thursday: NW @ 40/70 in the morning. NW @ 40/60 in the afternoon. -
John's Weather Journal January 28
Pretty quiet day here in the south with a sun/cloud mix and a more seasonal high of -13. We are almost there as of noon. Winds will be a little stronger than yesterday but all of the Extreme Cold Warning have now ended.If you like sunshine, take advantage of any chance you get to see the sun today. The next few days will be on the grey side and we'll likely see some flurries Friday night and a few flurries on Saturday. Just cloudy skies is what we can expect on Sunday. It's not the few centimetres I was expecting this weekend because the system will drop more of that snow onto the central part of the province. In the north, we could see 5-10cms heading into the weekend. We may see a couple of cms in the SE and in NW Ontario through late Saturday.Temps will also get milder this weekend in the south with Saturday being the mildest day at -5 degrees.I've been watching the long range computer guidance for some snow next week around the Wednesday/Thursday time frame. So far, there is fairly decent agreement that southern Manitoba could see a more significant accumulating snowfall. Stayed tuned for details on the track and timing of that possible snow. It will be the weather I'm focusing on early next week.
John's 7-Day Forecast Thursday: E @ 15/25 this afternoon.Friday: SE @ 15/20 in the morning. SE @ 30/40 in the afternoon.Saturday: SE @ 15 in the morning. SE @ 10 in the afternoon.Sunday: Light wind in the morning. NW @ 10/15 in the afternoon. -
John's Weather Journal January 27
The Extremem Cold Warning has ended now for most of southern Manitoba. We still have a warning for most of the Interlake and east of Lake Winnipeg. Our high today in Winnipeg will be -21 and we are already at -22 as of noon. Winds are light so there isn't much of a wind chill today. Still, there is a risk of frostbite.As we head toward the weekend, our weather warms up. Thursday brings a more seasonal daytime high of -13 degrees, then we are into minus single digits for highs starting Friday.There is also a chance for some snow on Friday night and through Saturday. Amounts won't be huge and I should be able to give a better idea of how much will land on us this weekend.
John's 7-Day Forecast Wednesday: E @ 10 this afternoon.Thursday: E @ 15/20 in the morning. E @ 15/25 in the afternoon.Friday: E @ 15/20 in the morning. SE @ 20/30 in the afternoon.Saturday: E @ 10 in the morning. NE @ 10/15 in the afternoon.