Many students across Southern Manitoba will get one more snow day Thursday as impacts from this week's storm lead to cancellations once again across the province. Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for much of the region, with snow and blowing snow expected to continue.
"After much of the Red River Valley and Southeastern Manitoba saw a break in precipitation for much of Wednesday afternoon and evening, this system will give us one more round from its buffet of conditions Thursday into Good Friday morning," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Early Thursday morning showers were reported in many parts of the Southern Red River Valley, but that will change over to snow as colder air is pulled into this low. That will ultimately lead to light snow throughout much of the day and evening."
According to Environment Canada, further snowfall accumulations of 5-10 cm are expected in the Red River Valley and southeastern Manitoba, with up to 5cms for Southwestern Manitoba. A few more centimeters of snow are likely in most areas tonight before tapering off Friday as the low pressure system weakens and pulls eastward. Northerly wind gusts up to 60 km/h will develop this morning, diminishing Thursday evening.
As for 5:15 a.m. Thursday, most highways west of of Highway 75 remained closed. For the latest Road Report and Cancellation information, click here.
Sumner was asked about snowfall totals to this point, and what happened yesterday that led to the snow tapering off for some areas.
"There was a lot of talk yesterday about 'What's up with this storm' in our region, and I understand why considering we went from blizzard conditions in the morning to essentially nothing in the afternoon," he said. "Essentially what it comes down to is an area of dry air pulled into the system turned off the snow machine, and because the system was relatively stalled, the snow pretty much ended for the day except for a few flurries and periods of drizzle here and there. With that said, areas west of the Manitoba escarpment and north of the Trans Canada highway saw blizzard conditions throughout the day, and really faced the brunt of this storm's impacts. I expect, once storm totals start coming in, we will find those areas are the ones with the highest amounts."
Looking ahead to Easter weekend, the lingering cloud cover and flurries from this low will stick around for Good Friday, and so will well below average temperatures as a colder airmass settles in. Highs between -5 and -7 tomorrow, which is more than fifteen degrees colder than we should be for this point in April. Sunshine will finally return Saturday as high pressure gives us one day of blue sky, and we'll also see temperatures creep up a bit, but the sunny conditions won't last long. A fast moving low pressure system cross the Dakotas and Minnesota is projected to bring another round of accumulating snow Easter Sunday. with early projections suggesting around 5cms will be possible throughout the area.
"Once we get into next week, and look back at this stretch, I expect we will see general snowfall amounts in line with Environment Canada's initial projects," noted Sumner. "It may feel like less, because of how many days it was spread out, but I do feel we'll be pretty close. The next phase will be how the snowmelt goes, and what impact that has on Red River water levels and overland flooding conditions. At this point, the long range forecast models are showing temperatures in the 4 to 7 degree range by mid-week which will assist in a slow melt, hopefully limiting flooding potential."