Updated Thursday, March 27th at 4:25 p.m. - It is still likely the Pembina and western Red River Valleys will see some snow from the complex weather set-up occurring over the next 24 hours, but according to Environment Canada, the heaviest bands of snow are now expected to remain further north beyond the region.
Snowfall Warnings have ended for the Carman, Portage, Brunkild, Winnipeg and Steinbach areas. A Special Weather Statement is now in effect.
"Heavy snowfall is no longer expected to fall along the Transcanada Highway corridor Thursday evening," noted the statement. "The heaviest snow is now forecast to fall north of the corridor, north of the City of Winnipeg. However, a short but intense band of snow will pass through the Winnipeg region during the evening rush hour tonight, giving a quick 2 or 2 to 4 cm of snowfall. Additional light snow is expected to fall on Friday but accumulations should not exceed warning thresholds by Friday evening."
Meanwhile, further south in our area near the U.S. border the overall snowfall forecast has changed considerably at this point, with Environment Canada now suggesting up to 5-ish centimeters total by Friday night in the Morden, Winkler, Altona and Emerson area.
"I would caution all of us from putting impacts from this storm completely out of our minds," noted CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Where the second band of snow is expected to develop overnight Thursday and last through Friday could still change somewhat, meaning there could still be some variation in snowfall totals. On top of that, any snowfall will be at the same time as gusty northeasterly winds up to 60km/h on Friday, meaning blowing snow and reduced visibility may be a factor."
You can read our original story from Thursday morning, below.
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With Snowfall Warnings now in place for much of Southern and Central Manitoba, it appears sleds and toboggans will be getting more use than bicycles at the beginning of Spring Break. Environment Canada has issued Snowfall Warnings in the Red River Valley and Southeastern Manitoba for essentially all areas along and north of Highway 23. Currently the Pilot Mound, Manitou, Morden, Winkler, Altona, Emerson and Morris regions are not within the Warning area, but we are still expecting accumulating snowfall starting tonight and lasting through Friday.
"We are all systems go for a Spring snowstorm to impact a significant portion of the province over the next 36 to 48 hours," said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "The general track of this Alberta clipper remains along the Yellowhead Highways corridor from northwest Alberta, slicing across the Prairies and exiting Manitoba in the Whiteshell area some time early Saturday morning. For some areas of Manitoba, this may be the largest single snow event of the Winter/Spring season."
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According to Environment Canada, 15 to 25cms is possible within the Snowfall Warning areas, with lesser amounts south of the Trans Canada highway.
"At this point, 10-ish centimeters is the range I'm expecting for the Pembina and western Red River Valleys between Thursday night and Saturday morning," he added. "I will stress any changes in how this system crosses the province, will impact those estimated snowfall totals. If it ends up slumping further south, we would see higher accumulations. If it trends even slightly further north, our region could see much less."
Ahead of the snow developing Thursday night, there is a risk of freezing rain for areas near the U.S. border.
The snow isn't the only factor to keep in mind with this system, because visibility will be significantly reduced due to heavy snowfall and localized blowing snow, as northeasterly winds gust up to 60 km/h beginning tonight and continuing through Friday.
"You add all this up, and heading into Spring break on Friday travel conditions will be difficult, at best, across large swaths of Southern Manitoba, and unlikely in the most impacted areas with the highest snowfall rates," said Sumner. "Those less than ideal travel conditions will last throughout Friday and into Saturday morning."
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The snow will taper off overnight Friday into the early morning hours of Saturday, with cooler than average temperatures expected for the weekend.
"Surface high pressure will build behind this system as it exits our area," he noted. "That will allow a cooler airmass from the north to descend over the region, with daytime highs up to ten degrees below average for the end of March on Saturday and Sunday."
Right now, the forecast shows highs between -4 and -6 for both days, with +4 the usual high for the end of the month.