Clean up continues from this week's major Spring storm, with highway closures and cancellations extending for a third day into Good Friday. As 6:25 A.M. The TransCanada west of Brandon to the Saskatchewan border and east of Winnipeg to Hadashville remains closed, as well as portions of Highways,2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 18, 21 and 23. All remaining open highways are reported as ice and snow covered with reduced visibility in blowing snow.
"The lingering effects of the powerful Colorado low that hit us will still be felt today," noted CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "The low is currently centred over Northern Ontario, bbut the cloud cover and flurries associated with its counterclockwise rotation extend all the way eastward to the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. We can expect gusty northwesterly winds up to 50 km/h to continue Good Friday, with periods of light snow. Daytime highs of -3 to -5 are in the forecast, which is well below average for this time of year. Normal highs are 11 degrees, with overnight lows around -1."
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Environment Canada has released snowfall totals from the powerful Colorado low which hit the province this week, collected from volunteer networks across the province. Onanole, just south of Clear Lake at Riding Mountain National Park, recorded the highest at 82cms, Killarney reached 60cms and Selkirk rounded out the top three at 45cms. Other notable totals included Morden and Altona around 38 to 40cms, Portage 36cms, Winnipeg 25 to 35cms, Schanzenfeld south of Winkler had 25cms, and Brandon around 19cms. You can find the full list, including peak wind gusts, by clicking here.
"Now that we're starting to see the after storm reports come in, we're getting a clear picture of which regions were hit the hardest, and there are pockets within Western Manitoba and the Interlake which saw considerably more impacts than say, the southern Red River Valley or the southeastern corner of the province, south of the number one highway. From a wind perspective, the southwest, by far, had the strongest gusts. The Manitoba Agriculture Weather Network recorded gusts at Pierson of 85 km/h, Birtle 83 km/h and Sinclair/Minnedosa 81 km/h. Further east, gusts topped out, for the most part, in the low 60's."
Sumner noted high pressure will start building into Southern Manitoba Saturday, bringing a return to sunshine, but for only one day this Easter weekend. Temperatures tomorrow will be similar to today, hovering between -3 and -5.
"There's no doubt, we've all had enough of Old Man Winter and Mother Nature's wintry return, but Easter Sunday is lining up as another snowy day," he said. "The forecast models continue to show a fast moving system crossing the Dakotas and Minnesota which may bring an additional 5 to 10cms to most areas of Southern Manitoba. The northerly winds are not expected to be as gusty as the past few days, but breezy enough, potentially reaching 50 km/h, meaning blowing snow and reduced visibility will more than likely be a concern throughout the day."
Sumner added that system will quickly exit the region Sunday night, with high pressure returning Monday, bringing sunshine back to start the week and for part of Tuesday. Looking long-range into next week, he noted the recent stormy pattern appears like it may continue.
"Right now we're seeing an Alberta clipper showing up in our neck of the woods Tuesday night into Wednesday, which could bring more snow and gusty conditions," he said. "It's too early to say much more than that, but the generally unsettled weather we've had looks likely to continue."
As for the melting of all this snow, it will be slow to start, with the general temperature pattern remaining below freezing until early next week.
"And even then, we're not expecting a return to average temperatures for April until potentially a week from now, think the April 23rd to 25th range," added Sumner. "The cooler weather will certainly assist in providing conditions for a slow melt, which will be good news for parts of the province concerned about overland flooding, especially in the Red River Valley."