Shannon Dueck

Our stretch of clear, dry weather in southern Manitoba is about to come to an end. In fact, by the time you go to bed Sunday night, there could be a whole lot more snow on the ground.

Natalie Hasell with Environment Canada says this week we will feel the effects of several low-pressure systems. For the Red River Valley, the total accumulation of new snow this week could be 30 centimetres, if not more. Much greater accumulations are anticipated south of the border.

The Senior Climatologist with Environment Canada says it will not be a quick transition to spring in southern Manitoba.

March 1st marks the first day of spring on the meteorological calendar. For those who buy into the theory that if March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion, or vice versa, David Phillips says March in southern Manitoba is actually coming in more like frozen mutton. He notes the first two days of March are expected to be cooler than normal before we soar above the freezing mark on Friday. 

The President and Chief Executive Officer for Sio Silica says gaining the necessary approvals for their proposed extraction project in southeastern Manitoba would pump more than one billion dollars into the Manitoba economy over the lifetime of the project.

The Senior Climatologist with Environment Canada says it will not be a quick transition to spring in southern Manitoba.

March 1st marks the first day of spring on the meteorological calendar. For those who buy into the theory that if March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion, or vice versa, David Phillips says March in southern Manitoba is actually coming in more like frozen mutton. He notes the first two days of March are expected to be cooler than normal before we soar above the freezing mark on Friday. 

The Clean Environment Commission public hearings started in Steinbach on Monday, for a project that has been proposed for Vivian, east of Anola near the Highway 15 and Provincial Road 302 intersection. 

The provincial government announced yesterday new funding in order to target firearms trafficking and violent crime in Manitoba.

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen says his government is allocating more than $1.4 million to Manitoba Prosecution Service (MPS) to fund 10 new positions which will increase capacity to address firearms trafficking, manufacturing and related violent crime in Manitoba. 

Manitoba's Economic Development and Investment Minister says our province's fiscal position continues to improve. 

Jeff Wharton says Manitoba has regained more than 100,000 jobs after losing 90,500 during the pandemic in April 2020. He says employment expanded by 3.2 per cent last year, representing the second-largest growth in recorded history, trailing only 2021. 

A meteorologist with Environment Canada says it will be, at times, a snowy long weekend for southern Manitoba with a few different systems expected to pass through.

Terri Lang refers to it as a mixed bag of weather. She says the systems headed our way are from the Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories.

"People should expect some snow, of course, as these systems come through," explains Lang. 

And, because of the winds associated with these systems, Lang says there will also be blowing snow as they pass through. 

It is another sign of spring. Our province today announced that ice cutting will begin next week on the Red River in order to reduce the potential impacts of ice-jam flooding.

The ice-jam mitigation program, which consists of cutting and breaking river ice, was launched in 2006 to reduce the risk of flooding caused by ice jams on the lower Red River and several other rivers. Ice jams form when floating ice is blocked from moving downstream, forcing water to back up and overflow riverbanks.

Snow and blowing snow Tuesday evening resulted in whiteout conditions, and forced the closure of many highways in southern Manitoba. However, there were no official weather warnings issued by Environment Canada, which left people scratching their heads.