Manitoba to get six more weeks of winter, according to Manitoba Merv
Posted February 2, 2023 3:39 pm.
Last Updated February 3, 2023 10:07 am.
It’s been cold, to say the least here in Manitoba. In the -30s and -40s, anything can freeze in seconds.
CityNews did various tests, just to confirm this.
Pouring hot water on a towel, whipping it around and after only about 20 seconds, the towel could be ripped apart easily. During a take for the evening newscast, the handle of the coffee mug — being used to throw boiling hot water in the air so it could evaporate — snapped off and shattered on the ground.
All of this is possible due to the polar vortex that hit Canada last week.
“That high-pressure system that was behind that front and slowly been moving its way down through the prairies and right now, it’s right over top of Winnipeg,” said Janelle Gergely, Meteorologist, Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Gergely says it’s important to cover up any exposed skin, as frostbite in these temperatures, could happen within minutes.
“With the wind chills, we’ve seen values below -40 and that is why you are seeing that extreme cold warning out,” said Gergely. “Stay inside if you need to. Bring in your pets if you need to. It’s very cold and it can happen very quickly.”
Manitoba Merv predicts six more weeks of winter.
Thursday is Groundhog day. Amidst Manitoba’s extremely cold weather, the province’s groundhog, Manitoba Merv, saw his shadow, meaning “we do have six more weeks of winter in store for us here in Manitoba,” according to Jacques Bourgeois, marketing & communications at Oak Hammock Marsh.
Groundhog Day didn’t go on script across Canada this year. Quebec’s groundhog died before he was able to reveal his prediction, but volunteer children stepped in and predicted six more weeks of winter.
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As did Nova Scotia, and the United States. Ontario and Alberta, however, were the opposite, as their furry friends called for an early spring. Bourgeois says these predictions are generally accurate, as Manitoba Merv has been wrong only once in his 29 years of service.
“He predicted and early spring in the year of ’97. We had that big snowstorm in April and the flood following that, so that’s the only year he has been wrong, but other than that, he has been bang on.”
Warmer weather is on the horizon across the country, including in Manitoba, but is this the end of a cold snap this winter? Gergely says no.
“It’s early February. There are still lots of chances for arctic air to plunge its way back down into the prairies.”
