Two rounds of rain and thunderstorms passed through the area on Canada Day as the weekend wrapped up book-ended by precipitation. All things considered, Portage la Prairie was on the low end of the totals even though Canada Day activities were moved indoors at Stride Place. The fireworks display went as planned around 10:30 p.m. last night. The heaviest of rain fell to the south of Portage.

"Yet another moisture laden upper-level low, very similar to the one which brought rain on Friday, crossing the southern Prairies Monday bringing significant moisture to the region," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "This system took almost the same track as the one Friday, so many of the regions which saw a good shot of rain then got another round, and in some cases considerably more. That low will slowly make its way across Manitoba today toward northwestern Ontario."

Meanwhile, the latest round of heavy rainfall prompted communities like Winkler and Morden late Monday night to ask residents to minimize water usage, with the sewer system in Morden overburdened by the high rate of rainfall.

The following totals are courtesy of the Manitoba Ag Weather Network. They are for July 1st through Tuesday, July 2nd at 5 a.m.

Winkler - 79.2mm (almost 3.2 inches)
Altona - 56.1mm
Jordan - 52.3mm
Brunkild - 47.4mm
Snowflake - 38.3mm
Morris - 35.1mm
Manitou - 31.8mm
St. Adolphe - 31.5mm
Steibach - 30.1mm
Ninette - 26.4mm
Carman - 26.2mm
Clearwater - 24.3mm (just under 1 inch)
Starbuck - 24.1mm
Plumas - 23.5mm
Elie - 22.5mm
Elm Creek - 22.0mm
Boissevain - 20.0mm
St. Claude - 18.8mm
Killarney - 15.8mm
Stonewall - 15.6mm
Treherne - 15.1mm
Portage la Prairie - 11.2mm
Gladstone - 8.3mm
Neepawa - 7.5mm
25mm = 1 inch

According to Sumner, the unsettled and wet pattern looks likely to continue this week with several chances for more rain and thunderstorms.

"As that upper level low tracks across the province today, it could kick off more showers," he said. "There remains ample moisture and instability in the atmosphere. If we see some sunshine break through the cloud cover today, that daytime heating would increase the instability over those areas, and could lead to non-severe thunderstorms developing Tuesday afternoon."

As for later in the week, Sumner noted daytime highs are expected to push back to seasonal, ranging between 25 and 27 degrees Wednesday through Saturday with muggy conditions continuing.

"We can expect to see daily thunderstorm chances, especially with more sunshine expected over the next couple of days," he said. "Multiple weak disturbances, combined with daytime heating, will provide the necessary mix for that very typical Summer pattern. As for our next chance of potentially general rainfall, the forecast models are showing a Pacific low crossing the U.S. plains, and into South Dakota which could lead to showers as far north as Southern Manitoba sometime between Friday night and Saturday."

cloudsThe sky looked like this over southern Manitoba for most of Canada Day

 

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