Major winter storm bears down on southern Manitoba
CBC News | Posted: December 4, 2016 10:29 PM | Last Updated: December 5, 2016
Potential exists for blizzard conditions over parts of the warning area
The mild ride is over.
A major winter storm with significant snow and blowing snow is about to hit southern Manitoba just days after the warmest ever November came to an end.
A winter storm warning has been issued right across the south with snow starting in the west on Monday morning and reaching Winnipeg by the evening. And it's not going to be a brief one.
The province issued a high wind warning for the south basins of Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba for Tuesday.
"Wind speed and direction could raise levels by as much as three to five feet along the south shore of Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba," the province warned in a statement.
Winnipeg and communities in the Red River Valley could see 15 centimetres by dinnertime Tuesday, with another 5-10 cm into Tuesday night.
The storm conditions will last until Wednesday evening, bringing 15-30 centimetres of snow in total.
Northerly winds gusting up to 60 km/h will develop Monday night or Tuesday over most areas and visibility will be significantly reduced at times, with blowing snow for most of Tuesday and into Wednesday as well, CBC meteorologist John Sauder said.
"Highways will be in terrible condition or even closed" Sauder predicted.
Western Manitoba highways treacherous
Near Brandon, highways were treacherous, forcing drivers to slow down due to low visibility and snow on the Trans-Canada Highway.
RCMP said visibility was "zero" when a car and semi collided on Highway 16 west of Neepawa. No injuries were reported.
Some even started their shovelling on Monday afternoon.
At the Winnipeg James Richardson International Airport, teams are running full tilt in preparation for the impending storm.
"The good thing is operating an airport in Winnipeg we have a lot of experience dealing with [snow]," said Tyler MacAfee with the Winnipeg Airports Authority.
He said airport staff are ready for the snow and wind. However, he said when it comes to delayed flights on Tuesday, they will have to see "what Mother Nature brings."
Bitterly cold air
Things don't get a whole lot better once the storm passes.
Bitterly cold Arctic air sweeps in with lows below –20 C expected by the end of the week, accompanied by wind chill values in the –30 to –35 range, Environment Canada forecast.