Another mercury-busting day has pushed Winnipeg closer to surpassing a 76-year-old record.
September is on track to be Winnipeg’s hottest ever as the daytime mean is on track to eclipse the record set in 1948.
While summer is officially over, Mother Nature hasn’t got the memo: temperatures reached 29 C Thursday at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Theo Hildebrand, who turns four next month, races ahead of his two-year-old sister Lucy and his granddad while out for a summer-like jaunt on his slider bike in River Heights Thursday.
Charleswood residents Darryl and Brenda Medlicott took full advantage of the balmy weather, venturing into Assiniboine Park for an afternoon picnic.
“This is beautiful weather,” Darryl said, sitting shirtless and finishing up the last of a McDonald’s hamburger.
The married couple, who described the park as their “second home,” weren’t the only ones soaking up the sun.
Couple Ilse Dyck and Jay Cwik were walking an 11-year-old, mixed-breed Labrador retriever named Leia near the duck pond.
The pair paused to sit on a park bench and watch as a Canadian goose groomed itself in the water.
“This is great because Winnipeg has so few nice days,” Dyck said. “I love this weather and I hope it stays. If it didn’t snow until December, I’d be happy.”
“I’ll gladly accept a warm September, especially with a blue sky and a nice breeze,” Cwik added.
He predicted the prolonged warmth might signal a wet, snow-filled winter.
“I’m happy we get an extended summer,” Cwik said.
Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Natalie Hassell said temperatures were closer to normal in July and August. Then September happened.
“The general trend has been temperatures well above normal a lot of the time for this month of September,” said Hassell.
“It’s a noticeable difference between the September average for this year up to now and what the Canadian climate normal would suggest.”
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Joggers Camryn Watson (left) and her friend Tia Davidson decided to take advantage of the beautiful, summer-like weather and go for a five-kilometre run Thursday.
With four days left in September, the average daytime mean temperature — which is an average of day and night temperatures over the month — is at 17.7 C, compared to the record of 16.8 C in September 1948.
The recent hot weather in Winnipeg is tied to an upper-level ridge of warm air centred around New Mexico, Texas and Mexico, which has been affecting temperatures across the prairies, Hassell said.
Across Manitoba, six daily maximum temperature records were broken Wednesday, including near Dominion City, Fisher Branch, Steinbach, Oak Point and Churchill.
Manitoba’s hot spot was in the Deerwood area, northwest of Morden, where the high was 29.8 C, surpassing the 29.1 C in 2014.
Churchill hit 23 C Wednesday as the tourist town gears up for polar bear season. That bested last year’s record of 21 C. Records in the northern community have been kept since 1929.
Above normal temperatures are expected to continue into the long weekend, Hassell said, before cooling overnight Monday with a chance of frost.
She added people in Winnipeg who have yet to deal with their gardens should do so this weekend, as temperatures in October are expected to be closer to seasonal.
— with files from Tyler Searle
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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