We're on the cusp of our first winter storm, and Environment Canada's Justin Shelley says the Portage la Prairie region received 10 mm of rainfall Tuesday morning and it continues this afternoon with wet snow merging into the equation.
"Snow really won't start accumulating until the evening hours, when a bit of a colder pushing behind the system will move in and allow for that accumulating snowfall to start. So, when it's all said and done, the Portage area is expected to see, likely, on the order of 10 to 20, maybe upwards of 25mm of rainfall. And in addition to that, upwards of 10 to 15 centimetres before all is said and done on Thursday. It looks like the worst conditions are going to be some time between the overnight and early morning hours."
He notes that's when we're getting heavy snowfall and also see some strong northwesterly winds pick up. Shelley adds that will likely lead to some blowing snow and reduced visibility.
"So, travel tomorrow will likely be affected by this system and might be a good idea to stay home if at all possible. It'll start off as sort of that wet heavy snow later on today, but then likely by the evening and certainly by the overnight hours, we'll start to see more of the the heavy true snow accumulating snowfall developed in the region."
Shelley explains the heaviest snow will end by Wednesday morning.
"We'll still see some intermittent flurries through the region until Wednesday night. Thursday right now is looking like it's going to be relatively calm, but cooler and that trend continues in through the rest of the week. We are tracking another system over the weekend which might affect the Portage region, and it could bring another decent shot of accumulating snowfall, but there's a bit a bit of uncertainty at this point to have too much detail."
Brace yourself as conditions deteriorate later this evening and into tomorrow morning. Shelley adds if you do make a trek on the roadways, take precautions as necessary.