Updated Sunday, February 2nd at 11:04am - Environment Canada has ended the Blowing Snow Advisory for all of Southern Manitoba. With that said, gusty westerly winds up to 60km/h and blowing snow are still expected throughout the Sunday, but visibility is expected to remain better than the threshold required to trigger the advisory.
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Updated Sunday, February 2nd at 6:58am -The light snow and gusty conditions arrived later than expected for much of Southern Manitoba, but the outcome looks like it will be the same... blowing snow and reduced visibility.
Environment Canada has issued a Blowing Snow Advisory for all of Southern Manitoba on Sunday. Blowing snow advisories are issued when winds are expected to create blowing snow giving poor visibility to 800 metres or less for at least 3 hours.
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"We didn't see many flakes until late Saturday night across much of Southern Manitoba," said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner Sunday morning. "The initial area of snowfall on Saturday morning remained further north and east than initially expected. As this low moved through the region, light snow developed Saturday night, with some minor accumulation. Strong westerly winds gusting to 60 km/h will produce blowing snow and reduced visibility throughout Sunday."
Visibility will improve from west to east later in the day as winds diminish.
According to Sumner, as the cold front sweeps through, the sky will clear and temperatures will begin to drop as a much colder air mass descends across the Prairies.
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"We're still on track for a return to well below average temperatures to start the week, with slightly below seasonal daytime highs forecast for the back half of the work week."
The average daytime high to start February is -10, with the overnight low around -20. Highs Monday and Tuesday are expected to be -17 to -19, with Wednesday through Friday slightly warmer between -13 and -15.
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Updated Saturday, February 1st at 9:34am - For those hitting the road Saturday, good news in the forecast department with it now less likely we will see travel impacts from a low pressure system moving through the province.
"A couple of things have played into this," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner Saturday morning. "One, the main area of snowfall associated with this low has stayed further north and east than initially expected. Secondly, dry air at the surface has been pulled into the area so far today and has essentially kept any flakes from falling from the Red River west to the Saskatchewan border, and south of the Trans Canada."
Sumner noted, there is still a chance we could see some light snow late Saturday afternoon into the evening, and that combined with the gusty winds that have developed could lead to some blowing snow and reduced visibility.
Those flurries, he added, are still likely to continue into Sunday morning with gusty northwesterly winds potentially producing blowing snow and reduced visibility.
"This is a perfect example of how just a slight tweak in the track of a particular system can make a significant difference in the expected conditions for a particular region."
You can find our original story, published Friday evening, below.
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After a Friday with a brief return of an Arctic airmass over Southern Manitoba, as surface high pressure descended out of the Northwest Territories punching that air southward, the region will quickly transition back to warmer and somewhat snowier conditions.
"In fact, the cooler conditions are already getting pushed out of the region as that high pressure slides southeastward, and we head into what will be an active start to the weekend," explained CMOS accredited weathercaster Chris Sumner Friday evening. "We’re expecting a low pressure system coming off the Rockies to track across the Prairies Friday through Saturday night, impacting all three provinces along the way."
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According to Sumner, generally speaking, total snowfall amounts expected have decreased since Friday, with areas south of the Trans Canada highway maxing out at 2 to 5cms.
"Light snow will begin Saturday morning, and continue throughout the day" he said. "Southeasterly winds will pick up, too, as the warm front triggers the initial snowfall."
Gusts up to 60km/h are possible during the day Saturday, meaning reduced visibility in blowing and drifting snow is likely. Winds are expected to back off by Saturday evening. This system led to Blowing Snow Advisories being issued for a large portion of Saskatchewan on Friday.
As the low moves through the province Saturday, winds will shift northwesterly for Sunday, gusting to 60km/h, meaning blowing snow will still be in the mix.
"As the cold front from this low passes through the region, that's when the winds will shift and cooler air on the backside of the system will begin moving into the region," he said. "The cold front may also produce some light snow, and that's why we're seeing that in the forecast for Sunday."
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"After the weekend, we’re looking at a return to below average conditions with Arctic air settling over much of the Prairies," added Sumner. "At this point it looks like Manitoba will be on the far eastern edge of that cold outbreak, so our temperatures may not get as cold as places in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but we're still looking at daytime highs to start next week seven to eight degrees below average for the beginning of February."