The Pembina Valley will see its second round of snowfall this week Wednesday night through Thursday morning, and this time around it's expected to be more than the couple of centimeters received earlier in the week.
"A Pacific moisture filled disturbance coming off the Rockies in Southern Alberta today will quickly move eastward bringing impacts to Southern Manitoba beginning late this afternoon in western regions and tonight in the Red River Valley and Southeastern Manitoba," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "As clippers do, it will travel quickly but pack a punch, and this system in particular will have a significant amount of snow considering most clippers have much less than what's expected with this one. The area of low pressure is already filled with moisture after coming off the Pacific, but will be tapping into warm, moist air from the south adding to the snow making potential."
Environment Canada has issued a Snowfall Warning for most of Western Manitoba, as far east as the Pilot Mound and Manitou areas.
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"Currently, the target for the highest totals is Southwestern Manitoba, south of the Trans Canada highway, and west of the Manitoba escarpment," said Sumner. "Those regions will likely see 10 to 15cms by late Thursday morning. Further east in the Pembina and western Red River Valley, up to 10cms is the expectation, with amounts decreasing even further as you move eastward across the Red River and toward the Ontario border."
Another factor that remains uncertain, but could have a major impact of snowfall totals, is banding within the system.
"This is when, due to certain atmospheric conditions and factors, much heavier bands of snow develop within the overall system itself," he noted. "The forecast models are showing this is likely, and depending on where those bands ultimately fall, those regions could see higher localized amounts."
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The wind is expected to remain relatively light Wednesday night and overnight before picking up somewhat to northerly between 20 and 30km/h Thursday morning.
"We're not expecting strong winds, but with this being dry snow, even those relatively lighter gusts will lead to blowing and drifting snow, especially in open areas," Sumner said.
The snow is expected to taper off by late Thursday morning, with surface high pressure quickly following the low, clearing things out, and leading to sunshine Thursday afternoon and Friday, but below average highs in the -15 to -17 range. Seasonal temperatures are expected for the final weekend before Christmas, with low chances of additional snow fall.