Searching for spring: Winnipeg likely to go through 1st March without a day above freezing since 1899

Southern Manitobansstill have that walk. The quick-paced one, with shoulders shrugged to the ears, heads down and hands driven deep into the pockets of their down-filled coats.

It's a walk they've performed since November, to stiffenagainst the briskwinds of the coldest months months that should have since passed, coats that should have since been sent back into storage.

Wouldn't it be nice to just open a window and let insome fresh air withoutthe furnace firing up?But here we are.

"It does look like we won't see temperatures above zerothis 2023 March," Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Natalie Haselltold guest host Cory Funk in aTuesday interview with CBC Manitoba'sRadio Noon.

Southern Manitoba hasno forecast highs above 0 C for the few remaining days of March, according to CBCManitoba meteorologist John Sauder, capping off what's been a frigid month.

Sauder called for a high in Winnipeg on Tuesday of8 C and a frosty overnight low of 20 C. Those temperatures compareto the normals of 4 C and7 C for March 28, Sauder said.

The closest Winnipeg hascome to breaking the 0 C markthis month was hitting 0.8 C on March 10, and again last Friday.

No one alive has experienced the city being shut out like this in March. The last time it happenedwas 1899.

Thatwas the coldest March since record-keepingbegan, saidHasell, who did offersome solace.

"It's not nearly as cold now as it was back in 1899. It's closer to what we had 10 years ago, in 2013. And 2014 was even colder," she said.

"So in recent memory, if you can think back nine years, that's the last time we saw quite a bit colder than normal conditions for the month of March."

The average temperature for March 1899 was 16.1 C, well below the10.8 C average for this month.

Hasell says Manitoba, like other parts of the Prairies, has been stuck in a cycle of cold Arctic ridges andlow-pressure systems.

Last year, the city saw13 days above 0 Cin March.The year before, there were a whopping 26 March days with positive temperatures. Seven of those days reacheddouble digits, including abalmy 20 C on March 29, 2021.

La Nia,a natural and temporary cooling of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide, is partly to blame for this spring's absence,Hasell said.

But that weather pattern recently fizzled out, so the lingering effects being feltin Manitoba should soon move on as well.

"We do see a slight improvement as things shift. Things should be a little bit more pleasant at least for most people it would be more pleasant over the next few days," Hasell said.

Temperatures should edge close to normal by Sunday but forget about taking in the sun.

Sauder's forecast calls for a high of 2 C in Winnipeg for Sunday, but with a chance of wet flurries.

"So, warmer, but not necessarily easy," saidHasell.

Beyond that, it appears Mother Nature and Jack Frost will be trying to settle a dispute.

"A freeze-thaw cycle might set itself up where temperatures are above zeroduring the day, below zero in the evening and night and early morning," Hasell said.

"So roads, highways, sidewalks, parking lots will become difficult to navigate, even if the weather itself might not be particularly bad. We do see that movement towards seasonal, but it's still going to be quite slow."