Manitoba

Winter is coming: First storm of the season forecast for southern Manitoba

A special weather statement is out for the southern part of Manitoba, from the west right to the east and including Winnipeg and Brandon, while some areas closer to the Saskatchewan border are under a winter storm watch.

10-25 cm of snow expected to start falling Wednesday

Environment Canada says the southern part of Manitoba is in for its first taste of the season this week, starting Wednesday. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)

Brace yourself Manitoba, the first winter storm of the season is coming.

A special weather statement is out for the southern part of the province, from west to east, including Winnipeg and Brandon, while some areas closer to the Saskatchewan border are under a winter storm watch. 

A special weather statement is in effect for most of southern Manitoba, while parts of the region close to the Saskatchewan border are under a winter storm watch (in yellow). (Environment Canada)

Environment Canada says the southern half of the province will see one more day of mild weather before it's hit with winter storm weather. 

Wednesday is expected to be a messy day, with a rain-snow mix blanketing the region, followed by periods of snowfall later in the day and continuing into Thursday.

Between 10 to 20 centimetres of snow is expected in total for most of southern Manitoba, while places like Dauphin, Russell and Roblin could see 25 centimetres of snow or more. 

Rain is expected to turn to snow late Wednesday, followed by periods of snow all day Thursday.

Manitobans have had unseasonably warm October and November temperatures, allowing golf courses to remain open longer than usual. 

Though the first week of November 2020 also saw high temperatures in parts of Manitoba (Winnipeg had a high of 19 C on Nov. 8, 2020, Statistics Canada says), the province had also had snow by the end of October that year. 

In years past, temperatures have dropped well below 0 degrees in early November. On Nov. 9, 2019, the Winnipeg airport weather station saw highs of –2 C and lows of –10 C, while 2018 was even colder, with a high of –6 C and low of 13 C at the Winnipeg airport, Statistics Canada says.

The normal Winnipeg temperatures for Nov. 9 are a high of 0 C and a low of –8 C, Environment Canada says.

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