Parts of Manitoba could see upwards of 20 cm of snowfall by weekend

The calendar says spring, but Mother Nature doesn't care — she's bringing winter back to the Prairies, and Manitoba is getting seriously dumped on.

"It will be an abrupt return to winter across the region," said Brad Vrolijk, a lead forecaster with Environment and Climate Change Canada, noting the weather event will come in two waves and be very heavy at times.

"There's a lot of indications that we could see snowfall rates up to four to five centimetres per hour at times [Friday] morning, which is very, very heavy," he told CBC Thursday morning.

"That's nearly whiteout conditions in just the snowfall."

Environment Canada's initial snowfall warning covered a wide band that stretches across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, hitting parts of this province Thursday afternoon.

By Thursday evening, the warning was downgraded to a special weather statement in Winnipeg and some other parts of southern Manitoba.

Environment Canada said an intense band of snow passed through the city early Thursday evening, bringing a centimetre or two at the south end of the city, while other parts saw nearly 10 centimetres.

The agency said residual periods of light snow would continue for the Winnipeg area Thursday night, with more light snow expected Friday.

However, snowfall warnings remained in effect for regions just north and east of Winnipeg Thursday night, and for much of western Manitoba, the Interlake, and a swath of eastern Manitoba, including the Whiteshell region.

A developing low-pressure system in Montana is expected to bring heavy snow to parts of western and south-central Manitoba, with the heaviest snowfall starting Thursday evening and continuing into Friday morning, before tapering off overnight Friday, Environment Canada said.

Generally, about 10 to 20 centimetres is expected by Friday evening, but areas along the eastern slopes of Riding Mountain and Duck Mountain, as well as the Swan Hills, could see upwards of 20 centimetres.

To the east, Vrolijk said the Whiteshell region could be hit with anywhere from 25 to 35 centimetres.

The return of winter also means the double-digit temperatures southern Manitoba saw on Wednesday are gone.

Daytime highs will be around –1 C to –6 C through the weekend and into next week, according to the Environment Canada forecast. The normal high for this time of year is 4 C.

Temperatures should begin to rebound by midweek.

"With that much fresh snow, it will limit how quickly we can warm up," said Vrolijk.