Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Manitoba’s stubborn winter, already overextending its stay, flared up again on Wednesday.
An Alberta clipper brought heavy snow to central and southern areas of the province late Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Environment Canada has issued snowfall and snow squall warnings for several areas of province.
Thick, wet flakes blanketed Winnipeg on Wednesday morning as a line of intense snowfall swept across the Red River Valley.
The storm is expected to be relatively brief but with very heavy snowfall rates — as much as 5 centimetres in one hour — with near-zero visibility at times, according to Environment Canada.
Near-zero visibility at times is expected as heavy snow passes through southern Manitoba on Wednesday. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)
Up to 15 cm is expected across most of southern Manitoba on Wednesday, on top the amounts that fell Tuesday.
The hardest-hit area has been the Parkland region in the west, between Lake Manitoba/Lake Winnipegosis and the Saskatchewan border, said Environment Canada meteorologist Danielle Desjardins.
The community of Durban, northwest of Duck Mountain Provincial Park, had recorded 13 cm as of 8 a.m. with more to come.
Other amounts include 9 cm in Portage la Prairie, 8 cm in High Bluff (just northeast of Portage la Prairie), and 5 cm in Winnipeg.
Some highways are closed in the Dauphin area and west of Riding Mountain around Roblin and Russell, while others in the south are listed by the provincial government’s highway conditions site as being partly covered.
The system is expected to move out of the Red River Valley later in the morning while it will linger in western Manitoba until the afternoon and into the evening in the east.
All that white will quickly become water in the next day or so as temperatures are expected to climb toward double-digit highs by the weekend.
Due to the weather and road conditions, all schools are closed in the following divisions:
Border Land.Evergreen.Hanover.Interlake.Lakeshore.Lord Selkirk.Mountain View.Prairie Rose.Red River Valley.Seine River.Swan Valley.
The Franco-Manitoban School Division has cancelled classes for the day at the following schools:
Aurèle Lemoine (St. Laurent).Plaine Days (Laurier).Saint-Georges.Lagimodière (Lorette).Pointe des Chênes (Ste. Anne).Saint-Jean-Baptiste.Sainte-Agathe.Saint-Joachim (La Broquerie).Réal-Bérard (St-Pierre-Jolys).Gabrielle-Roy (Île-des-Chênes).