Updated Saturday, March 11th at 7:40 p.m. - A number of highways have been closed in the Pembina Valley Saturday night:
Highway 3 from the junction of Highway 34 south of Crystal City to Sperling
Highway 13 from Carman to Oakville
Highway 14 from Rosenfeld to the jct of Highway 3 between Morden and Winkler
Highway 23 from Morris to Swan Lake
Highway 31 from the U.S. border to Highway 3
Highway 32 from the U.S. border to Winkler
Highway 34 from the jct of Highway 3 to Holland
PR 201 from the jct of 306 to Highway 32
PR 242 fron U.S. border to Highway 3
PR 243 near Highway 3
PR 245 from Carman to Highway 34
PR 428 from Highway 23 to Winkler
PR 432 from PR 201 to Highway 23
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Updated Saturday, March 11th at 4:10 p.m. - Blizzard Warnings continue for all of Southwestern Manitoba, as far east as the Pilot Mound and Manitou area. Snowfall Warnings continue for the Red River Valley and Southeastern Manitoba.
Snow is expected to gradually taper off this evening as the low pressure system responsible moves away from the area. Further snowfall amounts will range from 2 to 5 cm, with a further 10 cm possible along the Manitoba escarpment. Northeast winds gusting to 60 km/h will continue to give poor visibility in open areas in some regions.
Blizzard conditions in southwestern Manitoba should ease this evening as the low pressure system tracks out of the forecast area.
Please read below our original story published early Saturday morning.
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Snowfall Warnings continue for all of Southern Manitoba, with 10-20cms expected by Sunday morning. Snow began early Saturday morning in Western Manitoba, and will spread eastward into the Red River Valley and southeastern corner of the province throughout the morning hours.
"Our expectations from this potent low remain pretty much on point with what we were talking about Friday," said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Significant snowfall, gusty easterly winds, and the likelihood of travel impacts throughout Saturday, into the evening hours, are all on the table for the regions within those Warnings."
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Sumner noted there has been some fine tuning regarding where the heaviest snowfall will occur, based on the latest forecast model runs, and projected path the low will take as it moves through our region, as well as the Dakotas and Minnesota.
"The highest snowfall totals are expected in Southwestern Manitoba, and then along the International border into the Western Red River Valley," he explained. "Those regions are the most likely places to see 15+ cms out of this system. As we cross the Red, and move into the southeastern corner of the province, potential snowfall totals are expected to be somewhat less, but not much, landing between 10-15cms."
Sumner added, based on RADAR imagery, it appears snow will fall consistently throughout much of the day, but will be peppered with more intense bands of snowfall from time to time. He noted those bands are moving quite quickly, but will have the potential to drop several centimeters of snow in an hour or less.
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Easterly winds gusting between 40 and 60km/h are in the forecast, and combined with the falling snow, will produce blowing snow and reduced visibility.
"The winds will pick up, west to east, and we're expecting it to be breezy throughout the day," he said. "As the system continues to trek eastward, we're expecting the snow to taper off tonight, again west to east, and also see the winds subside and shift northerly. Right now, there is the possibility we could see winds become relatively calm before they pick up again out of the north, leading to more blowing snow, but there is some uncertainty regarding how long that may last overnight and into Sunday morning."
Sumner explained, because there isn't the usual rush of cold, Arctic air behind this system just waiting to blow into the region, wind strength on the backside of the low will be contingent on the pressure gradient, or the difference in pressure, between this low and the next airmass to arrive.
"If that pressure gradient is low, winds will be lighter," he said. "If that pressure gradient is tight, or high, then gusty conditions will redevelop, and if snow is continuing to fall in Southern Manitoba, we could see a blustery Sunday morning with blowing snow and reduced visibility potential."
Conditions are expected to improve by afternoon Sunday, as the outer edges of the low exit our forecast area, with even a peek of sunshine in the forecast, with temperatures below seasonal between -5 and -7.