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Much of southern Manitoba is under a special weather statement on Wednesday morning, with some areas expecting upwards of 20 centimetres of snow. Environment Canada warns that the system will bring heavy and rapidly accumulating snowfall.
The Parkland and Interlake regions are expected to see the heaviest snowfall, and the system will begin to impact the province on Thursday afternoon.
"It's going to be a surprisingly intense system," Brad Vrolijk, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says. "While the band of snow won't be enormous in its coverage of the prairies, we are expecting pretty intense snowfall as it pushes east."
Areas that are hit the hardest can expect 10 to 20 centimetres of snow right now, although some regions around Riding Mountain with higher elevation could see over 20 centimetres.
Not only that, but some areas could see rapid accumulation, with anywhere from three to six centimetres falling per hour.
Vrolijk stresses that travel will likely be especially difficult in the Parkland and Interlake regions from late Thursday and into Friday.
The worst of the snow is expected to remain north of Winnipeg, but Vrolijk says areas along the Trans-Canada Highway and further south will also see snow.
"It is a complex system," Vrolijk says. He says there will be two waves of snow, with the second wave on Friday expected to impact the Red River Valley with five to 10 centimetres of snow.
Vrolijk says Winnipeg sits right on the edge of the first band of snow, but it seems likely it will be hit by the lighter second band of snow.