Winter storm watch, snowfall warnings issued for southern Manitoba

Environment Canada has issued a winter storm or snowfall warning for all of southern Manitoba and parts of central Manitoba.

CBC meteorolgist John Sauder said a Colorado low moving into the region will bring varying amounts of snow, although western Manitoba will see more than central and eastern Manitoba.

"Up to about supper time on Sunday we've only got about two to maybe four centimetres of wet snow, and a lot of wet highways and streets. It'll be a pretty big mess."

Environment Canada issued its alerts on Saturday and updated them Sunday. Regions under a winter storm warning include Brandon, Neepawa, Carberry, Treherne, Dauphin, Russel, Roblin, Winnipegosis, Minnedosa, Riding Mountain National Park, Ste. Rose, McCreary, Alonsa, Gladstone, Swan River, Duck Mountain, Virden and Souris.

Everyone else, including Winnipeg, is under a snowfall warning.

Sauder says the Colorado low will move up from the south Sunday evening, bringing even more snow, which could go one of two ways: lots of snow, or lots and lots of snow.

"I think we're going to see about 15 to 25 centimetres of snow Sunday night and through the day Monday [through southern Manitoba]," he said, adding that the snow could continue into Tuesday under the right conditions. 

Sauder says the worst-case scenario — a stalled Colorado low hanging out over Manitoba — could add an additional 10 to 15 centimetres of snow to his forecast snow levels.

"That remains to be seen … but I think that certainly by the end of the day Monday, we're going to be doing some shovelling."

For Winnipeg, Environment Canada is predicting about 15 cm of snow total on Sunday night through Monday morning, along with wind gusts up to 60 km/h. Western Manitoba will see higher winds and larger snowfall amounts.

Manitoba Hydro says they are ready for the snowfall and are asking people to report problems right away.