A spring and summer of intense weather has wreaked havoc on southern Manitoba, slamming it with torrential rain, tornadoes, intense heat and, now, wildfire smoke.
The Beer Can, a popular summer patio located next to the Granite Curling Club, had to close early Thursday due to a thunderstorm. Prior to that, customers had to deal with a blanket of smoke that rolled into town from wildfires raging in Ontario.
“We’re just keeping (staff) on standby and adapting to the weather as the days come,” said supervisor Kisis Angeconeb.
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A smokey view on Friday from the top of Garbage Hill in Westview Park looking south along the rail lines. The smoke is from forest fires in Northwestern Ontario.
Winnipeg has seen its share of “weather whiplash” — the phenomenon of violent swings between extreme conditions in a short period of time.
A major storm brought hail, tornadoes and flash flooding to southern Manitoba in early June. Another storm at the end of June led to widespread flooding in Manitoba’s Parkland region.
In addition to smoke and rain, Winnipeg businesses that rely on the outdoors have had to contend with intense heat, which descended on the southern half of the province earlier this week with the humidex in the mid-40s. Saturday’s high is 30 C and Sunday is expected to hit 32 C, Environment Canada said.
“I’ve drank more water lately than I have in the last year,” Angeconeb joked.
The variability of temperature across Winnipeg between May and July has been abnormal, which is a result of a highly active, erratic polar jet stream, a climate expert said.
Volunteers work to sandbag a home at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation west of Brandon earlier this month as the community prepared for flooding from the rising Assiniboine River. (Tim Smith / The Brandon Sun)
“In May, we actually got up above 30 C a few times, which is rare,” said Alex Crawford, an assistant professor in the department of environment and geography at the University of Manitoba.
The active jet stream, combined with higher-than-average temperatures, creates conditions for more intense thunderstorms with heavier rainfall, which is what has inundated western Manitoba in June causing widespread flooding and multiple tornadoes, Crawford said.
“Climate change has made that more likely to happen,” he said.
Geoff Kehler, general manager of Larters at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club, called the spring the worst he’s experienced.
“I’ve been in this business for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
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A huge cloud formation can be seen near Ste. Anne on June 9.
Rounds at the golf course in June were down compared to last year owing to the constant precipitation. Kehler said he doesn’t expect the business to take too much of a financial hit, but the future remains uncertain.
“In our industry, you’re at the mercy of the weather so much that you kind of just roll with punches and do what you can,” he said.
The remainder of the summer is expected to be hotter than normal, Environment Canada said.
Above-average temperatures are predicted through September, with less severe thunderstorms — but that comes at a cost, meteorologist Robyn Dyck said.
“Usually when there’s smoke, there’s less thunderstorm development, and then of course, relatedly, less hail and tornadoes,” she said.
“We do have this constant battle of air masses. So, being in the central plains, it is always a battle between the northerly Arctic flow and then a warmer marine flow from the west. So that is always going to give you a polarized weather experience.”
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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