Lord Selkirk School Division cancels afternoon buses, snowfall warnings in effect for parts of Manitoba
Extreme cold warnings also in effect for northern Manitoba
Snowfall warnings are in effect for some pockets of central and eastern Manitoba on Thursday, as deteriorating weather conditions have prompted at least one school division to cancel buses for the afternoon.
Meanwhile, northern Manitoba is under an extreme cold warning, Environment Canada says.
School bus service for the Lord Selkirk School Division in Selkirk and the surrounding area has been cancelled for Thursday afternoon, a memo posted on the division's website Thursday morning said.
The notice was posted after classes had started for the day, but said "rapidly worsening road and weather conditions" made the decision necessary.
Schools remain open but the division is asking parents and guardians to pick up their children as soon as they can.
Selkirk is not currently included in Environment Canada's snowfall warning, which says a low-pressure system over Saskatchewan is expected to bring 10 to 15 centimetres of snow to some areas in central and eastern Manitoba.
Poor winter driving conditions also prompted the closure of Highway 12, from Steinbach to the U.S. border, just after noon Thursday, the province's website says.
The snow started falling in the west early Thursday morning and was expected to continue into the evening, as the system moves east into Ontario, the weather agency said.
As of early Thursday afternoon, the following areas were under snowfall warnings:
- Berens River, Little Grand Rapids, Bloodvein and Atikaki.
- Flin Flon, Cranberry Portage and Snow Lake.
- Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Pukatawagan.
- Norway House, Cross Lake and Wabowden.
- Poplar River.
Environment Canada also issued extreme cold warnings for the north later Thursday morning.
Winds gusting to 50 kilometres an hour were expected along with temperatures in the –35 C range in the afternoon. Conditions were expected to improve Friday morning, though below average temperatures will continue in the north through the weekend.
Extreme cold warnings are in place for:
- Brochet.
- Churchill.
- Tadoule Lake.
- York.
Environment Canada warns the conditions bring an elevated risk of frostbite and hypothermia.
Cold-related symptoms include muscle pain and weakness, chest pain, shortness of breath, and numbness and discolouration in the fingers and toes.