Rain puts damper on tennis enthusiasts’ last late-season court session

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2023 (724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The sun was out, the temperature was nearing 10 C, and the tennis courts were reopening for a pre-winter reprieve after closing for the season in October.

“If the golfers can do it, so can we!” Kildonan Tennis Club member and volunteer treasurer Lorena Trann wrote in an email to members Nov. 14.

Like local golfers, tennis enthusiasts took advantage of above-seasonal temps that are expected to drop Tuesday and remain below zero for the next while.

“Then, the bookings started,” Trann said. “It feels good to be able to offer that opportunity and to see people having fun.”

The day after Trann put the word out to members of the not-for-profit private tennis club, Harry Melnyk hit the court. He returned for a doubles match Saturday — which was, as it turned out, the club’s last weekend in operation until spring.

Although courts were booked Monday, rain made it too slick to play.

He was one of about 26 players who squeezed in a game or two last weekend: about 20 per cent of the club’s membership.

“It is very rare to play outdoors in the month of November,” said Melnyk, 73.

This late in the season, players have to contend with the sun lower in the sky and the ball bouncing not quite as high.

“You get used to it, but you have to move your feet a lot more.”

Although he’s aware at least one member has managed to get in an early December game in years past, the latest into the fall Melnyk has ever played Nov. 22, but that was more than 20 years ago.

“We cherish it quite a bit, because we know that it doesn’t happen very often,” he said.

It was likely the last chance to bask in non-freezing temperatures that Manitobans will enjoy for a few months.

A low-pressure weather system moved into northern Manitoba Monday from Nunavut, bringing a cold front with it. By Thursday, temperatures are forecast to be around -8 C, dropping down to around -16 C overnight, said Natalie Hasell, a Winnipeg-based warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Any melted snow or rainwater will likely freeze, resulting in icy streets and sidewalks, she warned, urging Manitobans to repair roof shingles and get their winter tires installed before the freezing weather hits.

Typically, average temperatures in Winnipeg this time of year are around -4 C as a daytime high, and an overnight low of -12 C. Forecasters were calling for above-normal temperatures for November, December and January as part of the ongoing El Nino, a warm phase across the Pacific.

“Typically the warm phase for us as well, though for southern Manitoba, the strength of that forecast is not as great. The signal isn’t as strong, so we should still expect winter conditions as we move forward… the very cold temperatures that we do get here are still in the cards, just maybe not for as long a period as we might have seen in previous winters. Still, get ready now for bad conditions,” Hasell said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca