Colleen Bready's forecast: Heat, smoke and humidity across Manitoba

Heat, humidity, strong winds and smoke – all conditions in play on Thursday in Manitoba.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued heat warnings for almost all of southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg and Brandon.

Heat warnings are also in effect in the northwest as far as the Flin Flon region and Island Lake in the northeast.

Most areas will be contending with hot daytime highs in the low 30s, humidex values in the upper 30s or low 40s, and warm overnight lows in the upper teens and low 20s.

This is all courtesy of a slow-moving ridge of high pressure finally starting to reach Manitoba from the west.

The heat and humidity will be particularly intense today for the southwest, then a little less so on Friday. Winnipeg and the southeast, however, will deal with these conditions through tomorrow.

A cold front will cross Manitoba on Friday. That doesn’t mean temperatures will plummet behind it by any means. However, they won’t be quite hot by the weekend.

Then there is the smoke. Winds are strong across the province from the south today, so smoke from wildfires in the northwest will hang around that quadrant of the province.

ECCC has issued an air quality advisory for the Brochet, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Pukatawagan areas.

As the cold front passes over the province on Friday, the greatest chance for severe thunderstorms to develop tomorrow is here in the Red River Valley and east toward Ontario.