The ice should be in our glasses, not on the street! The frosted flakes? In a bowl!

Winnipeggers could be forgiven for suffering weather whiplash after awakening to a thin layer of snow Tuesday, just two days after basking in summer-like temperatures.

The snow and far-below normal temperatures meant a temporary halt to spring outdoor activities.

The city’s golf courses remained open even though the day’s temperature stalled below the forecast 3 C. Business was the opposite of booming at Shooters Family Golf Centre and Restaurant on Main Street, just inside the Perimeter Highway.

“We’re open, but it’s a little quiet,” manager Eason Cerasani said. “If the temperature was up it would be busier. Right now we have 10 people on the (golf) course and three people on the (driving) range.

“The range can have 100 golfers, so it is pretty empty. That’s a lot different from the weekend when it was crazier.”

The Lorette Golf Course, about 15 minutes south of Winnipeg, announced it would be closed all day.

Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Matt Loney said there’s a 30 per cent chance of flurries Wednesday, but after that temperatures should slowly climb daily until reaching normal levels by the beginning of next week — highs of 17 C and lows of 3 C.

“It warms up, it fools you a bit, and then we’re back into a delay when it comes to spring,” Loney said.

Loney said besides whiplash, Winnipeggers can also experience amnesia when it comes to weather.

“We’re not setting any records — we’ve seen this kind of behaviour before in the atmosphere in spring,” he said. “It can be quite volatile. I looked at the data for spring all the way back to 2017 — that’s a total of nine springs — and we’re looking at three other occurrences of snow happening in May, including last year, when it actually snowed on May 17.

“We have a hard time remembering year-to-year weather.”

A “high” temperature of -1.1 C in 1931 holds the dubious distinction of the coldest May 5 on record in the city, followed by 2.2 C in 1938 and 2.8 set in 1885, 1950 and 1989.

“(Tuesday’s) temperature is in the running for the top seven, but we will have to wait until tonight when the climate day is over to know for sure,” Loney said, adding the record high on May 5 was 35.2 in 2016.

The chill had no impact on city spring cleaning operations, civic spokesperson Kalen Qually said.

Damian Truong, Manitoba Soccer’s referee development manager, said the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association — which has about 2,500 players on 180 teams — was scheduled to begin play this week, but pushed back its schedule owing to the weather.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca