{"id":809002,"date":"2026-07-18T00:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T00:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/809002\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T00:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T00:47:27","slug":"weather-whiplash-leaves-winnipeg-businesses-sore-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/809002\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Weather whiplash\u2019 leaves Winnipeg businesses sore \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A spring and summer of intense weather has wreaked havoc on southern Manitoba, slamming it with torrential rain, tornadoes, intense heat and, now, wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n<p>The Beer Can, a popular summer patio located next to the Granite Curling Club, had to close early Thursday due to a thunderstorm. Prior to that, customers had to deal with a blanket of smoke that rolled into town from wildfires raging in Ontario.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re just keeping (staff) on standby and adapting to the weather as the days come,\u201d said supervisor Kisis Angeconeb.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_260717-Smoke-0006.jpg\" data-pswp- data-pswp-width=\"2048\" data-pswp-height=\"1365\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_260717-Smoke-0006.jpg\" alt=\"MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS &#13;&#10;A smokey view on Friday from the top of Garbage Hill in Westview Park looking south along the rail lines. The smoke is from forest fires in Northwestern Ontario.\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS &#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>A smokey view on Friday from the top of Garbage Hill in Westview Park looking south along the rail lines. The smoke is from forest fires in Northwestern Ontario.<\/p>\n<p>Winnipeg has seen its share of \u201cweather whiplash\u201d \u2014 the phenomenon of violent swings between extreme conditions in a short period of time.<\/p>\n<p>A major storm brought hail, tornadoes and flash flooding to southern Manitoba in early June. Another storm at the end of June led to widespread flooding in Manitoba\u2019s Parkland region.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to smoke and rain, Winnipeg businesses that rely on the outdoors have had to contend with intense heat, which descended on the southern half of the province earlier this week with the humidex in the mid-40s. Saturday\u2019s high is 30 C and Sunday is expected to hit 32 C, Environment Canada said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve drank more water lately than I have in the last year,\u201d Angeconeb joked.<\/p>\n<p>The variability of temperature across Winnipeg between May and July has been abnormal, which is a result of a highly active, erratic polar jet stream, a climate expert said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_260707SiouxVSandbag05TS.JPG\" data-pswp- data-pswp-width=\"2048\" data-pswp-height=\"1365\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_260707SiouxVSandbag05TS.JPG\" alt=\"Volunteers work to sandbag a home at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation west of Brandon earlier this month as the community prepared for flooding from the rising Assiniboine River. (Tim Smith \/ The Brandon Sun)\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Volunteers work to sandbag a home at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation west of Brandon earlier this month as the community prepared for flooding from the rising Assiniboine River. (Tim Smith \/ The Brandon Sun)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn May, we actually got up above 30 C a few times, which is rare,\u201d said Alex Crawford, an assistant professor in the department of environment and geography at the University of Manitoba.<\/p>\n<p>The active jet stream, combined with higher-than-average temperatures, creates conditions for more intense thunderstorms with heavier rainfall, which is what has inundated western Manitoba in June causing widespread flooding and multiple tornadoes, Crawford said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClimate change has made that more likely to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Geoff Kehler, general manager of Larters at St. Andrews Golf &amp; Country Club, called the spring the worst he\u2019s experienced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been in this business for 30 years and I\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_qc-STORM.jpg\" data-pswp- data-pswp-width=\"550\" data-pswp-height=\"591\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_qc-STORM.jpg\" alt=\"SUPPLIED \/ QUINN COVE&#13;&#10;                                A huge cloud formation can be seen near Ste. Anne on June 9.\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>SUPPLIED \/ QUINN COVE<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>A huge cloud formation can be seen near Ste. Anne on June 9.<\/p>\n<p>Rounds at the golf course in June were down compared to last year owing to the constant precipitation. Kehler said he doesn\u2019t expect the business to take too much of a financial hit, but the future remains uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our industry, you\u2019re at the mercy of the weather so much that you kind of just roll with punches and do what you can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The remainder of the summer is expected to be hotter than normal, Environment Canada said.<\/p>\n<p>Above-average temperatures are predicted through September, with less severe thunderstorms \u2014 but that comes at a cost, meteorologist Robyn Dyck said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually when there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s less thunderstorm development, and then of course, relatedly, less hail and tornadoes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_BJ-20260712WPGFolkFestival26.jpg\" data-pswp- data-pswp-width=\"2048\" data-pswp-height=\"1365\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4406831_web1_BJ-20260712WPGFolkFestival26.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do have this constant battle of air masses. So, being in the central plains, it is always a battle between the northerly Arctic flow and then a warmer marine flow from the west. So that is always going to give you a polarized weather experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nicole-buffie-mug.jpg\" class=\"author-portrait\" alt=\"Nicole Buffie\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Nicole Buffie<br \/>Multimedia producer<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/breakingnews\/2026\/07\/17\/mailto:nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca\" class=\"social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/breakingnews\/2026\/07\/17\/tel:204-891-4633\" class=\"social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/nicbufflin.bsky.social\" class=\"social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College\u2019s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/biographies\/nicole-buffie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more about Nicole<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/about-us\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/free-press-101\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"block-non-subscriber\">Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/subscribe\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"block-subscriber\">Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A spring and summer of intense weather has wreaked havoc on southern Manitoba, slamming it with torrential rain,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-809002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}