Ahead of a quick-moving shot of snow today and tonight, Environment Canada has issued a Snowfall Warning for much of Southern Manitoba. Even though Portage was on the low end of the snowfall totals Sunday into Monday (8 cm's) there were major disruptions, things were very icy, and many highways needed to be closed. Brandon in comparison had roughly 29 cm's of the white stuff. And here we go again.
This time, 10 to 15 cm's is expected, with the highest totals likely in the Red River Valley and Southeastern corner of the province.
"This fast-moving low-pressure system cutting through the Dakotas and into our area will pack a punch, from a snowfall perspective, especially considering how quickly it will drop what it has on the region," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "The expectation is for snowfall to begin by early to mid-afternoon throughout the Warning areas, and within 12 to 18 hours, have wrapped up, tapering off sometime tonight."
According to Environment Canada, within the wide swath of accumulating snow, there is the potential for embedded bands of more vigorous snow. These bands will allow for significant snowfall rates, causing visibility to drop to near zero and snowfall accumulations to add up quite quickly in some localities.
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"Adding to the visibility and travel challenges later today and tonight will be gusty winds up to 50 km/h," noted Sumner. "Those will first come out of the east, and then shift northerly into the evening hours. It's highly likely significantly reduced visibility in blowing and drifting snow will be part of the late Wednesday afternoon and evening commute. The winds will diminish overnight into Thursday morning."
This will be a fairly quick moving system and conditions will improve on Thursday.
"A cooler day with highs between -7 and -9 is on tap for Thursday, with temperatures warming through the weekend into next week," he said. "Above average temperatures are showing up in the forecast models for next week, as upper level ridging in the atmosphere allows for a warmer airmass to settle into the region."