For those areas that were under Winter Storm Warnings Tuesday, light snow started to fall late in the afternoon and it hasn't stopped since. In fact, in most of those areas, the snowfall intensity has picked up and remained high.
"Prior to midnight Tuesday, we were seeing the leading edge of the snow with this strong Spring storm," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "During the early morning hours of Wednesday, that's when the first of sever heavy bands moved far enough north to start impacting Southern Manitoba. It didn't take long for accumulations to start building, and with several more waves of snowfall expected Wednesday, it's quite likely we'll be in the mark with our initial storm total estimates.
Environment Canada has continued Winter Storm Warnings for most of Southern Manitoba, from the Brandon/Killarney area, eastward to the Ontario border, and then well into Northwestern Ontario. Within those warning areas, at least 10cms of snow has already fallen, with potentially a further 10 to 15 by the end of today.
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"We're still expecting that far southeastern corner of the province to receive the highest amounts, again drawing a line from Altona through Steinbach up to the Whiteshell, and then southeast of that," he said. "Snowfall totals within that area will more than likely push 25+ cms by the time the low starts pulling far enough eastward that impacts lessen."
Sumner noted driving conditions Wednesday morning are poor in many areas with completely snow covered highways and near zero visibility at times in falling and blowing snow.
"It's important to note, northerly winds are expected to pick up by the afternoon, potentially gusting to 60 km/h, particularly west of the Red River, toward the Manitoba escarpment," he said. "Winds through the early morning hours haven't been touching 40 km/h, yet, and we're already in a position where driving outside of urban centres is extremely challenging. As the system pulls out of the area, the winds of the backside will increase, and so will the impacts from blowing snow and reduced visibility, not to mention the extensive drifting that will be possible on rural roads and areas."
As of Wednesday morning, I-29 in North Dakota is closed from the Canada/U.S. border at Emerson/Pembina all the way to the North Dakota/South Dakota border. Many other highways in the eastern half of North Dakota are also closed, or travel is not advised at this time. You can find current North Dakota road conditions, here.
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Based on the current movement and track of the Colorado low, it's expected snowfall will taper off by Wednesday evening, with a chance of flurries continuing tonight, overnight and Thursday morning. Northwesterly gusts up to 50 km/h are in the forecast until at least Thursday afternoon, meaning blowing snow and reduced visibility will be a factor until at least that time frame.
"Conditions are expected to improve throughout the day, Thursday, as the system continues to track further away from Southern Manitoba, and that's setting us up what's looking like a beautiful Easter weekend," he noted. "We're expecting mainly sunny conditions Good Friday through Easter Monday, with temperatures returning to seasonal, and potentially above, by the time we get back to work next week."
Average daytime highs for this time of year are 7 degrees daytime and -4 overnight.
"With upper level ridging building in starting Friday, and beyond, high pressure will dominate the weather pattern following that, with much warmer air flooding the region, first from a southerly flow and then westerly," Sumner said. "Now, I would caution folks regarding some of the long-range temperature forecast for mid next week, indicating we could see the mid to upper teens. I would suggest that's a bit of an overestimate, that may not be taking into account the impact of the snowfall we're receiving right now, and how it will dampen day time highs. With that said, I could see highs ranging in that 9 to 13 range once we get to Easter Monday and beyond."