Colleen Bready's Forecast: Thunderstorms possible around Manitoba

Atmospheric conditions to the west, south and north of Manitoba could make for an interesting weather day on Wednesday.

An influx of warm and humid air into the southwest was already helping to produce thunderstorms by late morning.

By early afternoon, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the region. If severe storms do develop, they will be slow-moving. The weather agency says these storms will be capable of producing localized flooding.

As this line of storms moves east across the southwest, most of the south could see showers or thunderstorms this afternoon and tonight. That includes Winnipeg.

Central Manitoba could also see severe thunderstorms develop today. The main threat in this case is expected to be large hail.

Even further north, ECCC’s heat warning continues for the most northern regions of the province and northeast.

This will be the last day of temperatures in those areas reaching the upper 20s or low 30s. An approaching cold front from north of Manitoba will move southward across the province tonight and on Thursday. Daytime highs in northern regions will return to more seasonal August temperatures tomorrow.

But the question is what effect the cold front will have on wildfire smoke in northern Manitoba where ECCC’s air quality alerts remain in effect.

By Thursday morning, winds from the northwest should push the smoke southeast into central Manitoba. As the day goes on, smoke is expected to spread into western areas.

By Friday, there is the possibility that smoke could spread into Winnipeg.