A frost advisory has been issued for parts of Manitoba Saturday night into Sunday morning. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), patchy frost is expected when temperatures dip to the freezing mark tonight. The advisory comes after brief flurries fell on Winnipeg and other areas of the province as the long weekend got underway. “Just a few flakes down in the south and a bit more up north, but no significant accumulations,” ECCC meteorologist Jason Knight told CTV News. Knight said snow at this time of the year isn’t too unusual. Winnipeg saw around 29 cm of snow on May 11, 2004, and another 5 cm the following day. However, the appearance of snow this year comes just days after temperatures hit 37.0 C on Tuesday – breaking a 125-year-old record. “We had this stream of hot air coming up from the south building over several days and then sitting over Manitoba,” Knight explained. Meanwhile, Knight said an equally intense trough was building to the west. “Once this ridge finally pushed off to the east, this trough brought in that sweep of cold winter air once again.” Knight said parts of Manitoba may see a stray flake or two again Saturday night, but not enough to require a shovel or brush. “We’re looking at a steady warmup after this and back to about [20.0 C] by mid-week.” As for the frosty warning, Knight said Manitobans should take preventive measures before heading to bed. “Cover your plants. I know with that hot weather everyone was out buying nice flowers and tomatoes, but cover them up. Bring them in.”
