Experts talk extreme Manitoba weather this spring

Manitobans don’t know whether to reach for an ice cream or a parka.

That’s because over the past week, the province has seen extreme weather throughout the region.

Some experts say the shifting weather patterns are here to stay.

“Manitoba’s gone from record heat to snow all in one week,” said weather expert Scott Kehler, president and chief scientist with WeatherLogics.

“At the start of last week, Winnipeg hit 37 C, which was the earliest on record for that. But then, by the end of the week, as we moved into the long weekend, we saw a lot of rain and also even some snow in parts of the province.”

Kehler says usually in May in Manitoba, the weather is sitting in the high teens or low 20s, with the spike in warm weather the outlier.

“Now it’s actually more return-to-normal,” he said. “We do often see rain events in the month of May that helps to get our growing season started for farmers.”

And when it comes to the type of weather systems that’ll be hitting Manitoba in the future, Kehler says increased temperatures are in store and will become more common.

“In southern Manitoba our winters have definitely been getting warmer and what that could mean is that springs may begin to start earlier and fall may last longer into, kind of the early winter period,” he said.

“So if that happens, it can have all sorts of impacts on everything – from our ecosystems to agriculture and many other things. So that’s definitely a concern.”

“It’s not normal, that’s for sure,” added Michaela de Hoop, a fourth-year biology student at the University of Manitoba.

In her home of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, de Hoop says people have been seeing shifting patterns for years.

“Climate change is an issue that we’re seeing in Manitoba, especially now,” she said. “I think it just really goes to show how we can have an impact on that, how it’s impacting our lives.”

She says every year, wildfires get closer to her nation.

“It’s still just a really scary thing, and I’m really worried about next year. If every year it gets closer and closer, who knows what’s going to happen next.”

She adds raising awareness about climate change and global warming is critical.

“In science, everyone always asks: ‘what can you do?’ And there’s really no concrete answer,” she said. “As an individual, it’s really hard to say what you can do that will change weather patterns for the world. So it’s just trying to remind people that education is the key.”