Manitobans escape the worst of February's chill this year
Southern Manitoba experienced an unprecedented warm spell during the first half of February, shattering temperature records across the region
Signs of a true Canadian winter have been hard to come by across most the country this year, thanks in part to the impacts of El Niño, as forecast.
For Manitoba in particular, it's been a record-setting February in terms of warmth -- a time when residents are usually bundling up and adding layers for a frigid month in the heart of winter.
The first 14 days of this month however, sat above normal for much of southern Manitoba, with Thursday, February 15 being the only day below seasonal so far this February.
Northern sections of the province have been abnormally warm as well, though remaining just shy of the top place for record February warmth.
In both Winnipeg and Brandon, the normal temperature for this time of year is a frigid -15°C, but this year, both cities have been sitting at a balmy 11-12°C above normal!
In Winnipeg, this marks the warmest start to February on record, beating the previous record of -5.9°C set in 1935. For Brandon, it's the warmest first half of February since 1984.
No signs of the chill returning in the weeks to come
The average temperature from the beginning to the end of the month increases by about 5°C, which means we tend to see temperatures rise throughout the month as a whole.
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Temperatures for the following 10 days are forecast to remain comfortably above seasonal. While it's not looking like they'll be 10+ degrees above normal as an average, daytime highs will still sit about 2-5°C above what they should be.
The last half of the month is forecast to continue to be pretty mild, but it'll still be tough to beat the all-time February records, as 1998 was a very warm year, as well.
