After a stretch of bitter winter cold, southern Manitoba is just a couple of days away from more normal weather, says CBC meteorologist John Sauder.

An Arctic ridge of high pressure brought clear skies and light winds over southern Manitoba on Tuesday morning, producing cold temperatures.

Morning lows were in the –35 C to –40 C range in most localities, with Sprague in extreme southeast Manitoba registering an exceptional –43.8 C. Other spots hitting –40 C in the morning include Bird's Hill (–40.5 C), Piney (–42.5 C) and Indian Bay, near Falcon Lake (–41 C).

Officially, at least six record lows were set Tuesday over southern Manitoba, including:

• Sprague, –43.8 C (–41.1 C, 1979).
• Pinawa, –39.4 C (–38.3 C, 1979).
• Gimli, –39.3 C (–37.2 C, 1972).
• Gretna, –37.8 C (–34.8 C, 1999).
• Fisher Branch, –38.3 C (–37 C, 1988).
• Pilot Mound, –35.3 C (-34.3 C, 1972).

Temperatures are expected to moderate by Friday, when the high could reach –12 C, and over the weekend.